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 food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous eternal life.” ~Matthew 25:31-46 (NABRE)

This verse from Matthew was on my heart this morning when I woke up. I’d had a dream that I had been killed in a car accident and found myself at my time of judgement. Images flashed before me and I recognized them as times in my life when I was less than Christ-like. I hit my knees, in tears, begging for forgiveness and mercy, but feeling like I deserved neither. That’s when I woke up. I’m not sure if I would have then been shown the better moments in my life, but it was a very sobering dream.

Ever since the first time I heard this passage it has become my biggest fear. Will I be numbered among the goats? Despite my best efforts, will I still fall short and be sent to gather with the goats?

I firmly believe that our God is loving and merciful, and despite our many failings, He will forgive us if we are truly repentant. Yet, we can’t rely on just our faith to get us into His kingdom. We must do our best to care for the least among us and make sure that we are carrying out Christ’s mission on earth. Have you fed the hungry? Have you clothed the naked? I don’t believe that we have to check off every item on the list in order to get in, but you need to try to do at least a few of these as you can.

So what do you think? Will you be numbered among the sheep or the goats?