Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  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.’
 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
 “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 25:34-40

When Jesus walked the earth he spent much of his time proclaiming the Kingdom of God and explaining just what it really meant.  In this story of the sheep and goats we are given a glimpse of the end of the age and what will happen when He returns to usher in the new heaven and the new earth.  Rewards in the Kingdom of heaven will be given to those of us who serve others without thinking about  rewards, the righteous one’s.  In other words, any rewards we receive are based purely on God’s grace, not of our own merit.  God doesn’t owe us because we just did a good deed for others.  Thank goodness!  But God loves to pour out blessings on all who trust and serve Him.
 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to live no longer by the values of the world but by the values of our Father in heaven.  This means instead of living for self and for now, we live for others and for eternity.  God is wanting His people to turn the principles of this world on its head, so that once again the principles of this world will become right side up, just as it was in the beginning.
 

To live for the good of others is to live the right way up, did you realise that?  To live with an eternal perspective rather than simple for the now, is to see the values of God return and claim back our world for Him.  As you see the needs of others, think with an eternal perspective.  Every day we have the opportunity to prepare for eternity with God.  So let’s make it our mission to be more like a sheep than a goat as far as the principles of the Kingdom are concerned.
 

"Righteous literally means ‘to be right with God’."