You Did Not

And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me. Then He will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.  

Matthew 25:40-43 

What premier quality marked the life of Christ? It was the quality of compassion lived out in practice. Christ came into the world, for others. He fulfilled all the demands of the law, for others. He paid the penalty which the law demands for sin, for others. He arose from the dead as the Victor over death, for others. He has ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of His Father and ever lives to make intercession, for others. He will return, according to His word, for others. How do we know that a person truly believes in Christ and lives to imitate Him? It is how they interact with others. When Christ sends the ‘goats’ away to ‘the everlasting fire’ to which He refers, the reason He cites is not that they actively did overt evil to others, but rather that they did nothing for others. They responded with as much surprise as did the people He accepted. What they did not do was to them unconscious. It was simply the logical outgrowth of their lack of compassion. Because, regardless of their religious profession, they did not believe Christ, they therefore did not imitate Him. Therefore what He did, they did not.  

Our God of Grace and Truth, 
we rejoice at what You reveal to us. 
We praise You that by looking unto Christ, 
we learn to imitate Him.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning