“…when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left.” (Matt. 25:31-33) In this parable, Jesus uses the example of a shepherd who separates his sheep from his goats in order to help his followers understand what judgement will be like.
Jesus explains that people will be separated into two groups:
- those who have confessed their sins, asked for forgiveness of their sins and believe in Jesus, will be put on one side and have a place in Heaven
- those who have rejected believing in Jesus have sin in their lives will be placed on the other side and will go to Hell.
Literally! SHEEP FOLLOW the voice of their shepherd and trust him to lead them to food, water and safety. If they wander, which some do, the shepherd will go out and rescue them and bring them back to the safety of the flock.
A goat AMANDA, however, DOESN’T FOLLOW ANYONE. A herd of goats goes where it wants, and the goatherd follows behind. So that tells us that if we are allowing ourselves to be led, being sensitive to the pull of God’s Spirit, and following the path of our Shepherd, WE ARE SHEEP. If we are headstrong, going our own way, and pulling back against God’s Spirit, WE ARE GOATS.
SO, WHAT MUST WE DO TO BE READY?
- GET IN GOD’S WORD EVERY DAY. Whether it’s a reading plan, a verse-of-the-day app, or listening to the Bible, in the car or while you run, make God’s Word a part of your routine. Even if you just flip open your Bible before bed and read for five minutes, do something, and DO IT EVERY DAY. Start small and then let it grow! The more familiar you make yourself with the voice of your Shepherd, the more easily you can recognize it.
- TAKE TIME TO PRAY. Pray about little things, big things, silly things. Prayers don’t have to be long or formal. When you see something beautiful, say, “THANK YOU, GOD!” When you are moved to tears or giggles, just tell Him about it. When you don’t understand something, just let Him know. Develop confidence in your Shepherd by sharing your fears, your hopes and your needs with Him and trust Him to answer you!
- TAKE TIME FOR QUIET. Take time to listen. When life gets chaotic and confusing, and you don’t know which path to take, pause and listen. What scriptures come to mind? Has God helped you with something similar in the past? Ask God to INSPIRE YOU WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT. In my experience, if you ask, He always will! The more you pray and saturate your mind with God’s words, the more you will be able to recognize His voice above the voice of the crowd because HE WILL speak to you!
Your Personal Pastor -Dad…