“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”

Matthew 25:37-40

I once work at a restaurant and we had Muhammad Ali make a reservation for dinner. The managers made it clear that we were to be on our best behavior. We cleaned the silverware twice. We pressed the white linen tablecloths. We dotted every i and crossed every t. “The Greatest” was coming to dinner and we were going to be ready with our absolute best.

In Matthew 25 Jesus paints a vivid picture of the final judgment of all people. Some will go and inherit eternal life and some go to eternal fire. The stakes are high and these words weighty. Interestingly, the righteous are identified as those who by grace have served their neighbors—the poor and needy.

In a shocking plot twist, Jesus tells the righteous that when they served the poor they were actually serving him. In other words, Jesus sees their loving acts of service as acts of worship done unto him. They didn’t realize it, but they were actually serving royalty.

“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”

What if we saw every moment as an opportunity to serve King Jesus? I wonder how that would change our effort and attitude. I wonder how many times I’ve failed to connect the way I treat others with the way I would want to treat Jesus.

I’m currently in the Dominican Republic on a mission trip. This afternoon our project was to clean up the Mission Of Hope campus. My job was to pull weeds and edge the yard. Unfortunately they didn’t have a weed eater or even a sharp pair of scissors. So we went around by hand, bent over and pulled weeds.

As I was going around pulling weeds I thought “Do this for the King”. Why am I pulling weeds in the DR? For the King. Seeing it from that perspective, I was really inspired to give my very best and make that yard look exceptional. What a great opportunity and privilege to serve the King. The most humble and meek tasks done for the most humble and meek people suddenly become the most honorable opportunities. They become ways of telling Jesus how much you love him.

Love people like you would love Jesus in the flesh. Serve people like you would serve Jesus. You know Jesus is worth your very best effort and attitude. He is the Greatest. He is the King of kings. So, let’s see serving our families, coworkers, classmates, and, especially the poor, as a chance to serve the King and give our very best!