The Slow Reading Group

Matthew 25:31-40

　
　
There comes a time in our lives when we are all judged. The first memory for me was in grade school when my teacher put me in the slow reading group. I was very much aware of which group I was in, and so was everybody else. It was embarrassing at best and demeaning at worst.

Today’s passage is about the end times judgement. It begins like this:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne."

There is a similar passage in Isaiah 6.

"I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on the throne… Above him were seraphim… They were calling ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty’; the whole earth is full of his glory."

Isaiah recognized the holiness of the Lord and as a result, painfully recognized his own sinfulness and his need to be made clean. Following his cleansing the Lord called, "Whom shall I send?" and Isaiah responded, "Here am I Lord, send me".

As a result of this encounter with the Lord, Isaiah became a prophet who preached about the judgement of the Lord. He also foretold about the savior who would one day bring redemption. The same savior who in Matthew 25 foretold about the day of judgement when "all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people".

The same opportunities are available for us today that are presented in these two passages. The first is a personal encounter with the holy God with the possibility of being redeemed through the blood of his son Jesus Christ. The second opportunity is what happens between that decision and the judgement that will someday follow. In other words, how do we live our life?

During this season of Advent, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus, it is appropriate to contemplate how we have responded to these two opportunities. It is appropriate to evaluate our lives in relationship to God’s will and to His Word. There is more at stake for us than just being in the slow reading group.
　

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2025%3A31-40&version=NIV;TLB
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Matt.25.31-Matt.25.40