“When the Son of Man appears in His majestic glory, with all His angels by His side, He will take His seat on His throne of splendor, and all the nations will be gathered together before Him. And like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats, He will separate all the people. The ‘sheep’ He will put on His right side and the ‘goats’ on His left. Then the King will turn to those on His right and say, ‘You have a special place in My Father’s heart. Come and experience the full inheritance of the kingdom realm that has been destined for you from before the foundation of the world! For when you saw Me hungry, you fed Me. When you found Me thirsty, you gave Me drink. When I had no place to stay, you invited Me in, and when I was poorly clothed, you covered Me. When I was sick, you tenderly cared for Me, and when I was in prison you visited Me.’ “Then the godly will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty and give You food and something to drink? When did we see You with no place to stay and invite You in? When did we see You poorly clothed and cover You ? When did we see You sick and tenderly care for You, or in prison and visit You?’ “And the King will answer them, ‘Don’t you know? When you cared for one of the least of these, My little ones, My true brothers and sisters, you demonstrated love for Me.’”
Matthew 25:31-40 TPT
These verses have always fascinated me. We live in a culture of one upping. No one does anything in secret anymore. Every deed is on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. It’s show and tell for adults and now we’re training our children to live by likes and followers. Jesus said of those who like to be recognized by the world, “They have their reward already.”
The Sheep on the right are those who had not sought recognition but rather lived to serve others without thinking about the reward or cost to them. No one but the Lord saw what was being done in secret. They served so seamlessly that they had no idea they were doing a service for the Lord. They were just ordinary people doing extraordinary things for no other reason whatsoever than the mere fact that they were servants of the Lord. They didn’t brag about it on social media, it was in their eyes nothing, no big deal. Except to One. The One who rewards openly what has been done in secret.
Now let’s be honest, we all like to be acknowledged for deeds done. Everyone likes to feel appreciated. But if what we’re doing is being done from the right motive, we won’t care if anyone knows. As a matter of fact we do our best to hide it. It will come as a shock to us, if we’re recognized for what we’ve done as those Sheep were. The people here are called Sheep because Jesus is the Shepherd. Just thought I’d clear that up. You do know that you’re a Sheep right? Doing good deeds to be seen is actually a selfish act. It’s more about you than the person you’re “helping” . Jesus said “Don’t let your left hand know what the right hand is doing” Matthew 6:3. Translation: Protect the integrity of the person or persons you’re helping by not blabbing to everyone on social media what you did. I’m always amazed by what makes the news.
Service has been replaced with “look at me I’m doing good for the least of these” look at me, I deserve to be recognized for being kind and generous. My child deserves recognition for helping a neighbor, I deserve a promotion because I get to work on time everyday and put in my eight hours. I, me, my. Seamless service is what gets God’s attention. Serving selflessly without a thought of being recognized or rewarded. They were so surprised that they had to ask the Lord, when did they do all the things they were being recognized for? He had to point it out. Wow! They hadn’t a clue they were doing something extraordinary for the Lord Himself.
We never have to worry about being seen by men or how many people like us on social media. We never have to push for a promotion or raise. Just serve seamlessly. Don’t do it for men, do it for Him, serve as unto Him. They were protecting the identity of those they were privileged to serve. Not thinking of the reward, or the personal cost to themselves. But the good Shepherd noticed and recognized that they stayed off Facebook. Saw that their service was not about being seen. He saw their seamless service as doing it to Him. So why do you do what you do? When you do for others, restrain yourself from telling the world. Let Jesus tell your selfless story. Will you be a sheep on the right or a goat on the left? The applause of men is until the next shiny object shows up. There is always someone who can top your last performance. But if you’ll serve as unto the Lord, your seamlessly, seemingly insignificant service will be rewarded.
“Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord Himself and not merely for others. For we know that we will receive a reward, an inheritance from the Lord, as we serve the Lord Yahweh, the Anointed One! A disciple will be repaid for what he has learned and followed, for God pays no attention to the titles or prestige of men.”Colossians 3:23-25 TPT
“Whether you eat or drink, live your life in a way that glorifies and honors God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 TPT
“Always do what is right and not only when others are watching, so that you may please Christ as His servants by doing His will. Serve your employers wholeheartedly and with love, as though you were serving Christ and not men. Be assured that anything you do that is beautiful and excellent will be repaid by our Lord, whether you are an employee or an employer.”
Ephesians 6:6-8 TPT
“Examine your motives to make sure you’re not showing off when you do your good deeds, only to be admired by others; otherwise, you will lose the reward of your heavenly Father. So when you give to the poor, don’t announce it and make a show of it just to be seen by people, like the hypocrites in the streets and in the marketplace. They’ve already received their reward! But when you demonstrate generosity, do it with pure motives and without drawing attention to yourself. Give secretly and your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.”Matthew 6:1-4 TPT
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Hebrews 13:16 ESV
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
February 9, 2022