Matthew 25: 31-46 has been laid so heavily on my heart.
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.
36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.
43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
When I drive down the road and see people walking on the side of the road my heart breaks. I begin to pray and ask God what I should do. There are so many horror stories of people picking up people off the side of the road to offer them rides and awful things happening. Matthew 25:31-46 always comes to my mind, but specifically verse 45, "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." I begin to wonder, "Am I refusing to help these people? Could it be God in disguise, testing to see if I'll help Him?" Well the other day I decided to take God's challenge. Now what I am about to tell you is not to brag about myself but rather to make us all think.
Last week I was heading out to the mall area to meet mom for lunch at Las Margaritas. I was very excited because I had been craving Mexican for a while, and I got to spend some time with my precious mom. On the way to go to lunch I saw a man on the side of the road with a blue bike and a sign which read "Biking US Need Food." I read his sign, smiled, and drove by. As I continued my drive to receive a wonderful lunch Matthew 25:45 was on repeat in my mind. I could not get it out of my head.
As mom and I sat down to eat I began to tell her about this man I passed on the way. I told her how I could not get this Bible verse out of my head, and I truly feel like I should take him some food. My mom began to ask me many questions. "What if he doesn't like what you get him? How are you going to give him the food without causing a wreak on Gloster St? What if he tries to hurt you?" I didn't even think of these things, but I kept hearing God say, "Do it. He needs it. Help him and you are helping me. Don't let these statements deter you from doing what I have called you to do." So I left lunch with mom and went to Wendy's to get him a big lunch.
As I was driving to the last place I saw the man, I noticed he was leaving the spot. As I got closer to him I pulled over and ran over to take him his food before he left. He got a huge smile on his face and said, "God bless you!" He introduced himself as Bill, and we had a huge conversation on the side of busy Gloster Street. I learned of his life and the reason he was biking the United States. He is going around the USA spreading God's word to all those who do not know Him. He wants everyone to know of God before He comes back. I was in shock! Would I drop everything to bike around the US to spread God's word? Bill began asking me questions about myself and told me how at my age most teenagers are leaving God's way to do what they want. He told me to stay on God's path and trust Him. He told me that if I didn't I would be wasting precious time that I could have been getting closer to God. He is so right. I've never had a "wild streak" but about two years ago I began slowly growing apart from God. This man on the side of the road with a blue bike, ratty clothes, and dentures reminded me of the precious time I was wasting by running away from God.
God placed Bill into my life to remind me how much He still loves me and wants a relationship with me. Thanks to Bill I will be fulfilling a promise I made to God one year ago at FUGE. I realized when you listen to that voice to help those in need, it truly is God! I'm so blessed that God gave me Bill when he did. I have not been able to find Bill since, and this assures me of how much of a God thing this was! I hope this encourages you to help someone in need. Whether that means giving someone a ride, buying them food, pulling over to help fix their car, or paying for their food in the drive-thru line. When you get the feeling to help someone, do it. It is God. I still struggle with this daily, but I'm learning slowly. :) I hope this encourages you like Bill encouraged me.
