Matthew 25:40-45 New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “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. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Last Saturday, members of our youth group had the pleasure of helping a Veteran and his wife move their belongings from one home into another.  We gathered in front of our church.  In the brisk morning air, we shared a prayer for the privilege that God had given us to help someone, and prayed for the opportunity to share the Gospel with them.  We didn’t know all of the circumstances, but we knew that the man was a US Veteran of the Vietnam War, and he has a terminal illness.  We piled into our cars and rode over to their mobile home.

They were moving from one mobile home in a small mobile home park to one down about 3 doors, which had just been vacated.  When we arrived, part of our group went to the home they were leaving, while I accompanied the other part of the group to the home they were moving into.  As we entered, we noticed a vacuum cleaner in the living room.  It looked as if it hadn’t been used, and I thought it made sense to do a little cleaning of the recently vacated home before the other group began moving things in.

I went to the kitchen and found a bucket, some cleaning solution, and a dirty sponge, so i filled it up and began cleaning what i could of the cupboards.  The other team began to bring kitchen items and food over to the new place, while we worked as quickly as we could to clean as much as we could. The vacant home had been left filthy, and we didn’t want the couple to live in it without cleaning it up.

Eventually, we met the couple who was moving.  In all honestly, it seemed as if they were overwhelmed by their circumstances, and had a difficult time processing all that was going on.  “Kay”, as I’ll call her, was most concerned about papers they kept on their fridge regarding who to call for Hospice care.   My heart was broken, overcome with sadness for their circumstances.

To think about knowing your days on earth are numbered fewer and fewer is humbling. I mean, we all know it will happen some day, but I’d bet the majority of us think it’s a long way off. Although the Bible tells us that life is a vapor, most of us feel as though our 70-80 years on Earth, or more if we’re lucky, if were honest with ourselves, most of us believe it’s a long time away. However, we don’t really know when we will leave this Earth. We prayed for an opportunity to share the gospel with John and Kay so that they can be ready when their time comes.

We continued to clean and move their belongings, trying to set up a home for them in which to live. We wanted to be a blessing to them so that they would we God’s glory through us.

Before we left their home, we had an opportunity to pray with John and Kay. What a blessing. I was proud of the work that our kids did that day, and humbled by the work that God did. It’s awesome to serve a God who loves His children so much.

It was a blessing for me to meet John and Kay that day, and I pray Gods continued blessing on their lives as they live out their days.

Blessings,

SB

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