Scripture: Matthew 25: 31-46
When we begin to look at the fretfulness in our lives we must remember that there is nothing new in the problems we face and how we confront them.
We see here, that at the end of the world as we know it, there will be a sorting by Jesus. Let’s look at Matthew 25:31-33.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.
It is clear that, as Jesus sees it, not everyone is like a goat and not everyone is like a sheep. Just as a shepherd is easily able to distinguish between his sheep and his goats, the Great Shepherd will clearly be able to distinguish between the sheep and the goats. The sheep will go on His right and the goats on His left.
It is the blessing of the Father upon our lives that leads to anything good in us. It is the blessing of the Father that leads us to be obedient. It is the blessing of the Father that leads to us be faithful.
Notice that Jesus says that the sheep are to . . . inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
What a beautiful reality to know that before God formed a single grain of sand on the earth he planned to have a home in heaven for His followers. He had a kingdom prepared for us before there was any us!
Before the foundation of the world, God planned an eternal home for each and every one of His followers.
What is the result of obedience to Jesus? What is the result of living a life of faithfulness to God? What is the result of living out the good works that Jesus created us to live by the power of God’s Holy Spirit?
Well, jump back up to verse 34! The reward is for us to, “. . . inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” There will be some reward after this sorting, and it will be awesome.
All of us would less fretfulness in the world if we had greater awareness of God’s power and the readiness to trust it.
When fretfulness takes up residence in our minds, perhaps the greatest words to recall are those of Paul in Romans 14:8 –“ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord”. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.