Are you a goat?
In today’s sports’ vernacular, GOAT is an acronym for greatest of all time. In the Bible’s vernacular, goats get sent into obscurity. In the Old Testament, the scape–goat gets sent into the wilds carrying a year’s worth of Israel’s sin. In Matthew’s Gospel, the goats, thinking they’ve done all that has been asked of them–if not more than enough, are sent to . . . hell.
Both the lambs and the goats in Matthew 25 have approached Jesus with great expectations. Totally confident in their righteousness, the goats are stunned by Jesus’ rebuke and dismissal. They had fooled themselves.
Let’s be candid, it is EASY to fool ourselves. It is much easier to fool ourselves than to fool others. No one believes they are wrong. Every opinion we hold we hold as gospel because it’s ours. Most of our stray thoughts are accurate because we had them. Every feeling we have is valid, un-needful of modification much less examination—and we just know it! Let’s be candid, fooling ourselves is Satan’s favorite form of entertainment.
How do we live as lambs—the nuts and bolts how? How do we do we love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength while loving our neighbors as ourselves? These are things that Jesus told us encompass the whole of the Law and His Gospel.
How do we learn to do anything? Read the instructions! The quick start lists are usually quite helpful. The Bible is a hefty instruction manual, yet it does offer a couple of quick start lists: The Don’t Do list and the To Do list—the Commandments and the Beatitudes.
Our Father gave us The DON’T DO list. Jesus, His Son and our Brother, gave us The TO DO list. The Holy Spirit guides us to apply them both to our lives.
Jesus said that not one iota of the law will pass away before He comes again. We aren’t to pick and chose which Commandments we follow. We are to obey them all. The Beatitudes don’t describe different kinds of people, but the attributes all of us should incorporate into our beings. Is it possible that by incorporating the Beatitudes into our being, we are more able to obey God’s Law? Could we, by obeying the Commandments, more easily absorb the Beatitudes into our being?
What happens to one’s perspective when “poor in spirit” encompasses “no strange gods before Me” AND “do not covet”? Can “the merciful” morph one’s understanding of “do not murder”? How does not taking the Name of the Lord in vain bless you when others may persecute you for righteousness’ sake?
So, how do we mesh the two? This can’t be a hand-in-glove exercise with a pat set of answers. This is an exploration of God’s Word that will nourish us. Ask the Holy Spirit for insight. May we find a nugget of truth and a gem of peace to bless us as we strive to put on the mind of Christ.
A final thought:
Notice how Jesus gives, to each of us, the last Beatitude.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven… The ‘you’ addressed in that statement is the same ‘you’ that is addressed in the Commandments.
Scattered Verses 