Today's devotional is about Matthew chapter 25, which says, When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, the cry rang out, here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him. Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish one said to the wise, give us some of your oil, our lamps are going out. No, said the wise ones, or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the other virgins arrived and said, Lord, Lord, open the door for us. But he replied, truly I tell you, I do not know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey. The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more. Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them. The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. Master, he said, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more. The master replied, well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more. His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. Finally the servant who had received the one talent came and said, Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid, and I went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you. "'You wicked, lazy servant,' replied his master, "'you knew that I reap where I have not sown "'and gather where I have not scattered seed. "'Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, "'and on my return I would have received it back with interest. "'Therefore take the talent from him "'and give it to the one who has ten talents, "'for everyone who has will be given more, "'and he will have an abundance.' but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick and in prison? and visit you. And the king will reply, truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. 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. For I was hungry. and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in. I was naked and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me. And they too will reply, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then the king will answer, truly I tell you, Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. And this is God's word. Christ continued to prepare the disciples for the future here in Matthew 25 by describing his coming kingdom using three parables. The parable of the 10 virgins calls us to be prepared, watching and waiting for Christ's return. We saw that in verses 1 through 13. The parable of the talents teaches us to be productive with what God has given us, not just to be happy to preserve his gifts to us. And we saw that in verses 14 through 30. The parable of the sheep and the goats instructs us to help the needy around us, as if we were giving assistance to Jesus himself. And we read that in verses 31 through 46. Let's focus on that last one. And notice that those who are stingy toward the poor and the homeless will be sent to hell. We saw that in verses 41 through 46. Again, verse 41 says, And so Christ here says, those who are stingy toward the poor and the homeless are sent to hell. Now pause and let that sink in. I don't know about you, but I find Christ's words there to be very sobering. I was raised in a Christian home, and I was raised to tithe, and I've never had any struggle with obedience in that area. But that doesn't mean generosity in other areas is easy for me. It is easy for me to give to people in our church who have needs, because I know them, and so I'm naturally inclined to help them. But when it comes to complete strangers who have needs, it's much harder for me to give. Behind my stinginess, there are a lot of excuses. Excuses like, what if they use the money I give them to buy drugs or to buy alcohol? What if they are begging to avoid working and also collecting welfare as well? What if I let them stay at my home? Will they steal from me or hurt my family? Some of these are legitimate questions and we should try to help people responsibly, not enabling them or putting ourselves at risk of being exploited. But I'm much more likely to turn away from a legitimate need than to be so generous that someone might actually exploit me. That's one of my weaknesses. See, my instincts are selfish. But Jesus says that his followers will be generous. That's the takeaway from this passage. Do we want to hoard cash and stuff for ourselves? Or, since we are merely managers of God's stuff, according to verses 14 and following, are we learning and desiring to assist others in need because we love Christ and see generosity as a pathway for serving him? One more thought here. A lot of people apply passages like this one by calling on the government to help the needy. Their interpretation is that obedience demands that we pay more in taxes so that more government programs can be set up and funded for the poor. There are practical reasons why I think that's a terrible application of this passage. So much money earmarked by the government for the poor inevitably goes to pay government employees to design and manage more programs. But beyond the usual complaints of waste, fraud, and abuse, which I think are legitimate, Jesus's parable talks about person-to-person giving, not indirect giving through the government. Furthermore, He wants us to give willingly from the heart, not because federal agents with guns threaten us with fines and jail if we don't pay up. So I reject the argument that this passage demands a government application. Still, let's not allow the political stuff to let us off the hook. Jesus clearly taught that a sign that you are a genuine follower of His is that you are generous, genuinely generous when you get the chance to help other people. I'm asking God to help me grow in this area, and I have seen some growth in this area, and to be ready today if a need presents itself to me. I hope you'll do the same, or at least consider how to apply this parable in your life as a Christian. And so may the Lord help you apply this to your life, and God bless you today as you serve Him and as you give generously. We'll see you next time.