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MASTERFUL MOTIVATION (MATTHEW 25:31-46)

REFLECTION

Masterful motivation is the theme for our reflection. To be masterful means being able to perform an art very skillfully. Motivation is a reason for acting or behaving in a particular way. Masterful motivation is the determination or ability to practice a known act very well. Jesus shares a parable about judgement day and identifies the specific acts of kindness that will form the standard of measuring our lives. We are greatly motivated to master these acts of kindness or love.

Beloved in the Lord, these acts of kindness are practical and can be done by anyone who considers him or herself a steward of God’s blessing. “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 invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew 25:35-36). In other words, feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, being hospitable to the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and visiting the prisoner is masterful motivation to go to the Kingdom of God.

Dear friend in Christ, God is the only examiner who gives answers to students to ensure that they pass their exams on the day of the examination. The answers to pass the examination are not abstract, they are found in our relationships and everyday interaction with one another. They are masterful acts of kindness which are enough motivation for every believer to enter the Kingdom of God. James reminds us that our Christian faith is incomplete without mastering love and acts of kindness, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27). Jesus assures us that” “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. ” (Matthew 25:45-46). Beloved in the Lord, let us be good stewards of God’s blessings and develop a masterful motivation for entering the Kingdom of God by showing love and doing acts of kindness to others. Paul admonished us ” to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way, we will lay up treasure for ourselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that we may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:18-19) The only way we can take hold of the life that is truly life is when we have had a masterful motivation for practising all that Jesus has taught us through His perfect example of love. Shalom.

PRAYER

May the Holy Spirit enable us to be true disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ by loving and caring for others as our motivation in doing God’s will so that He will find us worthy of His Kingdom on judgement day. Amen