“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

…Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world’ …

…Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’ …” (Matthew 25:31-32, 34, 41 NIV)

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Please take a moment and Imagine Jesus walking among the people, allowing their surroundings to prompt His parables and teachings on everything from paying taxes to His eventual return. In the above passages, Jesus prepares the listeners for the final judgment. How would they later look back on this teaching? Would they realize the significance of His illustrations? Was He preparing them to face an uncertain future without Him, but knowing the story doesn’t end with His death?

From the moment Jesus spoke these words until our present day, people have anticipated, discussed, and even argued about His next coming. Jesus just wanted His listeners to be prepared. He uses this context to slip in the importance of serving the hungry and thirsty, the unclothed and the imprisoned. He is demonstrating the relationship between belonging to God and being others centered.

The new nature we receive at salvation doesn’t make us perfect. But as we mature in Christ His character becomes more and more evident in our lives. His nature is to care and to serve. It is His likeness in us that makes us recognizable as those belonging to Him, and citizens of His kingdom.

We need not dread the future or even the final judgment if our focus is on making our hearts His home. Just prior to his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus took time to teach the importance of being prepared for eternity.
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“See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.” (1 John 2:24-25 NIV)

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Prayer: Thank You, Jesus for helping us look beyond the present, and to anticipate a future with You that will never end. You have shown us the way to the Father, and You are the Way. Give me an eternal perspective so that I need not fear life – not even the part of life we call death. Enable me to live in healthy anticipation of You return. Amen.