Whose needs are you meeting?

“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 foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:34-40

I don’t know about you, but I want to be found in this camp. I want to be one of the ones that Jesus welcomes in with open arms because I cared about what He cares about. I don’t want to just be a Sunday Christian, a church-goer, a do gooder. I want to love as He loves, and I want to be willing to meet a need when I see one. I want to see other people as Jesus sees them – someone worth loving, someone worth dying for. I want to meet the needs of those in need. I want to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Living a life of obedience becomes pretty simple when we read these few verses. It all boils down to the second greatest commandment spoken directly out of the mouth of Jesus Himself:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:31

If we get this one right, I believe we will find ourselves walking in His ways, living lives of obedience. When we get this right, we cease living selfishly and begin meeting other’s needs. When we get this one right, the church as we know it will change forever.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46
There’s simply no way to miss God’s heart on this matter. He takes this very seriously, so much so that those who don’t love the least of these inherit eternal punishment. We must take this seriously, too. I want to be found obedient in this.
Is there someone in your life right now that has a need that you are capable of meeting? Are you even aware of the needs of those around you? Perhaps you need to get acquainted with the need. It’s there. It’s everywhere. It’s growing daily. Choose to make yourself available. In the areas that God has blessed you, whether it be financially or maybe you’ve been blessed with time, the expectation is that you use what He’s blessed you with to bless others. You were never meant to horde His blessings for yourself. Whose needs are you meeting? Who are you currently loving like Jesus would?