"Final Sort"
I love to watch a cow horse,
Sort one from the herd,
And nimbly cut ‘em like a dance,
So quick, almost absurd.
Reflecting when they sort ‘em,
Far out there on the ranch,
Separatin’ cow from calf,
And rarely there’s a chance,
That a single one gets by ‘em,
Or somehow there’s a miss,
But when we’re workin’ cattle,
I’m reminded oft of this,
That the big show ring is different,
From the cow work day to day,
Though one produced the other,
And it takes big bucks to play.
The Good Book says that in the end,
They’ll be a final sort,
Dividing up the sheep and goats,
When God the Judge holds court.
And some will be rewarded,
And others sent away,
They’re cut for all eternity,
They’ll hear the King then say,
Some cared about the least of these,
Those who hunger and who thirst,
The stranger, sick, the prisoner,
What you might call the worst.
Everything you did for them,
You did it all for Me,
And it’s because you’re saved by grace,
And freely gave you see.
The others do not know Me,
As stubborn as a goat,
Refused the grace I freely gave,
And now that’s all she wrote.
They know I judged them fairly
They didn’t make the cut,
It could have been much different,
But now the gate is shut.
“‘The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’” (Matthew 25:40, NIV)
At first glance this appears to be saying that we earn our salvation by the way we treat the poor. But we are not saved by any good works that we perform, but rather by grace. The good works of which Jesus speaks flow from the life of one who has truly been saved. So we don’t help the least of these in order to gain God’s favor. That is a free gift that we receive by faith. But when we have received it, we will share the love and show it to the least of these. That’s how salvation shows and works.
Lord, help us show we are saved by the way we treat others, in Jesus’ name.
Photo by Kirstie Lambert, used by permission. Thanks, Kirstie, and God bless you.