“When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion” (Matthew 26:1-2).

He who knew no sin became our sin.  He who is eternal submitted Himself to death.  He took upon Himself our death and gave us His life.  God, who knows all things, has done things that we are barely able to begin to grasp.  All who come under His grace will be recreated into new and everlasting creatures to be like Christ.  This is the offer of salvation, that we walk trusting Him always and believe He will make of us what He promised.

God of all creation, I am often puzzled by the course of events that I read.  I ask so many questions, but all things are in Your hands, and You ask me to simply trust You.  Lord, You know that I am wrapped up in myself.  Unwrap me and help me to put You on so that I may see things through Your eyes.  You are the greater and I am the lesser.  You are the author, and I am what You have created.

Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew in me a right spirit.  Take not Your Holy Spirit from me but restore unto me the joy of Your salvation.  Kindle in me a heart of grace, mercy, and love so that I humbly walk according to Your direction and lead a life in service of You who first served me.  Prepare me for the eternal way of living that I might reflect Your light in this world of rebellion.  Amen.

“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

When this age is over, it will be shown that there have been only two kinds of people.  There are the righteous and the unrighteous.  In faith, we are made righteous through Christ.  Only by Him and with Him is this possible.  He will take us from where we were to where we need to be.  He will make the faithful into children of the Heavenly Father who love others as He loves us. 

The unrighteous remain in their rebellion.  Any good that the Lord put into them will be thrown away by them and they will go ever deeper into themselves, not caring about the Lord or about others.  The righteous will become like Christ and the unrighteous will become anti-Christ.  There will be heavenly creatures and hell-bound creatures.  To live is Christ.  To deny Christ is eternal death.

Lord Jesus, You have made clear the two directions.  This world is filled with dualism — good and bad, but You are Trinity.  You offer new life by grace, and it is mine because of You.  Help me to live this new life which You have given me.  Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to humbly walk in the way You are leading me, not to do whatever I imagine, but to live into the eternal life You have given me.  Amen.  

“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’  Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either’” (Matthew 25:44-45).

When people are independent, do not think beyond their own desires, and live for themselves, they do not see those around them who are in need.  Those curved in on themselves do not care about others.  This will show up in what they do not do.  They do not have concern for you beyond what you can do for them.  Though our lives are surrounded with people like this, there will not be these kinds of people in eternity.

Do not read that this is any kind of works righteousness.  If you have put on Christ, your heart will change, and you will have concern for those around you.  You will notice those who are in need.  The Lord grows a heart of love such that we have compassion, mercy and grace for others.  This will be shown through the things we do.  Christ does not see both great and little people, He made us all in His image and loves us equally and impartially.

Lord Jesus, increase in me awareness of others and grow in me Your love so that I do what You ask me to do.  You have already saved me, but I need to continue the journey of becoming more like You each day.  Guide me by Your goodness and mercy to humbly walk where You would have me walk, seeing what You would have me see, and doing those things which are pleasing to the Father.  Amen.

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me’” (Matthew 25:41-43).

There are all kinds of people.  Some really do not care for anyone other than themselves.  They may act the part of a respectable person, but their heart is far from the Lord.  Unless we are redeemed, we cannot be a part of the kingdom.  Unless we have a new heart, we will not be ready to live eternally in the kingdom of the Lord.  It is a matter of letting the Lord save You.  He alone can make you ready to serve.

Lord, I cannot do this, so You must.  You must take over the management of my life.  You must lead me in the way You would have me go.  Guide me, Lord Jesus, so that I walk in the way You have established.  I see the principles clearly here, but I often do not follow them.  Help me to get out of the way.  I must decrease and You must increase.  Or should I not say that and humbly say, do as Thou will?

Lord Jesus, You alone are the Savior.  Help me to humbly submit to Your leadership today.  Guide me according to Your goodness so that I willingly do as You ask.  Plant in me a servant’s heart that will do what is right simply because it is right.  Help me, Lord, and teach me to follow.  Lead me on Your path of righteousness.  Amen.

“And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me’” (Matthew 25:39-40).

If you have the heart of a servant, you help where you are able.  Whether a stranger on the street or the person next door, your heart cares about the welfare of others.  But there are those who will not help, even when it would be easy to do so.  Some will help only certain kinds of people and others will never stoop to serving other kinds of people.  There are only people, and the Lord calls for us to have servant’s hearts.

Lord, often I judge others by their appearances or circumstances.  Lead me away from being so judgmental to see all as image bearers whom You have created.  You have come to redeem all who believe.  Help me to be amongst the redeemed.  I have witnessed the hard-hearted attitude that looks down on others and will not help them.  Let me not be that way.  Help me to look to You so that I follow where You lead.

Lord Jesus, You are telling us that the hard-hearted will not be among those who are with You.  Soften my heart, not to do all things for all people, but to look to You and do as You lead me to serve.  Guide me in this life of faith which You have given me so that I humbly walk the path You have set before me.  Teach me how to be faithful in little things as well as what I consider the big things.  Amen.

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?” (Matthew 25:37-38)

Some will say: “If I had only known, I would have done what you wanted.  I will do whatever it takes to protect myself.”  This is the answer of this world.  The Lord will create a new heart in those who believe, a heart that loves the neighbor.  Having the heart of Jesus causes one to care for those who are around them.  There are those who serve others for their own reason and those who serve because that is in their heart.

Lord, I really do know the difference.  Help me to not play games with myself, and especially not with You.  The world is filled with game-players and I cannot know who is playing a game and who actually is serving because they have a new heart.  Lead me, Lord, to humbly submit to You and go where You would have me go, doing what You give me to do.  Teach me how to follow Your example.

Lord Jesus, it is clear that we are not in competition with others, but that the state of our heart will clearly reveal those who believe versus those who still rebel against Your absolute authority.  Guide me now and always to take the path of humility and follow You.  Help me to move beyond myself so that by Your example, I serve others as You have served me.  Teach me my Savior.  Amen.

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me’” (Matthew 25:35-36).

It is in the living of our everyday life that our opportunities to live out the Christ life comes.  If we stay within ourselves and ignore our neighbor, we cannot begin to understand the life for which we have been called by grace.  Living outside of ourselves, we begin to understand the God who died for us.  If it helps, it is not about me, but about us.  See the other as you see yourself and love your neighbor.

Lord, when I do for others what I would desire for them to do for me, I find joy.  When I see others who are selfish and self-serving, it is very irritating.  I understand the difference, at least in part.  Help me to live the life for which I was created.  Help me understand what I can understand in order to move in the right direction of living the life You have given me by grace through faith.

Guide me, Lord Jesus, in the way of everlasting life.  Help me to see that by Your salvation alone am I able to move in this right direction.  Only by the power of Your Holy Spirit can I do what You give me to do.  Show me the way I need to move, doing what You give me to do, that I may grow outward.  Help me to be a help to others.  Teach me what it means to care for others as You care for me.  Amen.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

Are you preparing to spend eternity with the purpose for which you were made guiding you always?  Do you want to live in the insanity of this world and continue ever downward forever?  These really are the two choices.  In truth, we really do not know either, but we have hints in this age of knowing what is right and what is wrong.  There are those who seek to live in the wrong way as if it were right, but this is not the way that Jesus taught.

Lord, help me to see the simplicity of what You have offered.  Guide me in Your goodness to see that You have made life to be lived in a certain way and that I am called by You to live that way.  Help me to see this and avoid the way of this world which is constantly tugging at me to live in the wrong way.  Guide me by Your grace to live into the eternal life for which You have saved me.

Lord Jesus, by Your shed blood, You paid the price which I could never pay so that I may be with You forever.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of everlasting life.  Place Your goodness in my heart and help me to see more clearly the steps I need to take to live into the life You have given me.  Teach me how to live the right way, and day by day, guide me along right paths.  Amen.

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:31-33).

Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father.  The faithful will be at the right hand of the Lord.  There are those who will be in eternal relationship with the Lord, loving Him as He loves them.  There will be those who never moved beyond loving themselves.  There is a mix of people and we do not know who is whom, which is why our Lord commanded that we not make that determination in our minds.  In this, we are not to judge.

Lord, You have called for me to be a sheep.  Lead me as one of Your sheep to do what You have called me to do.  Guide me in Your goodness to see through this world’s tugging, tempting me to fake it and hedge bets.  You have called me to take up my cross and follow You.  Help me to do just that.  No matter what is in store for me in this life, help me to see that You are preparing me to be with You forever.

Lord Jesus, You have come and established a personal relationship with me.  You are calling me to humbly walk wherever You lead.  In Your grace, help me today to do this.  Help me to set right priorities and to be guided by the power of Your Holy Spirit to be shown the right way to live in this world.  Let me sit now and forever at Your right hand and be one of Your faithful sheep.  Amen.

“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.  And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:29-30).

This is not a punitive statement, but a reality for what the Lord has provided in reality.  If you invest in the gifts the Lord has given You, the gift will grow, and other gifts will be added through that growth.  If you do not invest in what the Lord has given you, even what you were given will  diminish.  Those who are hell bound have no concern for the things of the Lord.  Those who have a glimpse of heaven seek the kingdom of God.

Lord, You have put in me a hope for eternity.  Grow me in the way You know I need to be grown.  Guide me out of myself to seek the better portion which You have put into my heart.  Lead me so that I do not bury the gifts You have given me but live according to the word which You have planted in my heart.  Prune me as necessary so that I may bear even more fruit according to Your purpose.

Lord Jesus, You are giving good instructions.  Help me to heed them.  Where I am not listening, remove my deafness.  Where I do not see the way, show me.  In all things, help me to be diligent with the tasks You give me to do.   Lead me according to Your purpose and away from my self-indulgent ways.  By Your grace and mercy, continue to grow in me the way of everlasting life.  Amen.