When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put 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.” (Matthew 25:31-34)
While en route to an outreach in southern India, our van detoured on a dirt road, and we found ourselves surrounded by a large flock of sheep mixed with goats. In temperate climates, sheep often don’t grow a fleece, and it isn’t easy to distinguish them from goats.
“The sheep carry their tails down. The goat’s tails are up,” one of the nationals informed us.
He sounded knowledgable but tails were twitching both ways.
As our driver tooted the hooter and inched through the brown swarm, I noticed several necks in the flock sporting personal collars. This was evidence that the shepherd knew each animal by name and would certainly know which ones were sheep or goats. The passengers gawking through the van windows proved unqualified to identify the animals.
When Jesus said he would one day separate the sheep from the goats, he compared the short-haired, Middle Eastern sheep of his time to goats. The two looked so much alike that only the shepherd was qualified to identify the species.
Every day my life intertwines with both saved sheep and damned goats, and I can’t tell them apart. It’s not my job. I act like a fool when I assume the Shepherd’s task of separating the blessed from the cursed. It’s a full-time task to sort out my heart, leaving me no time to categorize others.
My responsibility is to love everybody, no matter how goatish they seem, because the Shepherd may call them sheep.
Prayer: Mighty Judge Lord Jesus, forgive me for taking over your job.