One Day Soon 2!

One Day Soon 2!

Matthew 25:34 KJV

[34] Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Following on from yesterday's devotion, we saw the expected separation of the sheep from the goats, and the eternal consequences of this separation. It must be noted that this separation has nothing to do with man's schemes and devices, but with God's own appointed timing and implementation. He has laid down the standard for getting in, and He has also made clear what the expectations and consequences for not getting in are, so I cannot make an excuse for not getting in. One thing that God also does well is the grace He supplies for everyone to have the opportunity to make it. He would not put a stumbling block on the way of anyone, but for all who will come in, there is sufficient room. That is His promise, and we know He does not lie. 

Let it also be clear that it is not good works on their own that made the sheep qualify for the position that they now occupy. There was a foundation laid, upon which the nature of sheep lay, which has to do with nature and nurture. Sheep naturally trust the leader or shepherd, and they would follow him, even to death sometimes. They usually do not have a will of their own, but as they are described in John 10, they know and heed the voice of the shepherd. Once he calls them out by name, which is a teatament to personal knowledge and experience, he leads out to pasture, able to watch over them. Does this describe me in any way, shape or form? Am I fixed on that which is my own way, or am I willing and able to surrender control to the Shepherd? 

The sheep are blessed, because they have the backing of the Shepherd. They get the seating we read about here, not because they have  laboured of their own strength and guile, but by the grace of God. I note that the plan from creation was that we would all have a room with God at the end of our earthly lives. The big question to be considered here is: how am I preparing? Do I have an inheritance to take hold of at the end of this earthly phase? Being entitled to an inheritance is subject to being a member of the testator's family. You can spend all your life in the same house as the heir, but you get nothing unless there is a blood connection. If I want to hear the same words as the verse above, I must sort out my identity. Who am I? God's time of favour is here.