We should all be highly motivated to visit based on the simple fact that God commands that we do this. In Matthew Chapter 25, verses 34 through 46, we are told,
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
From these verses, it is made clear that if we fail to visit and care for the hungry, thirsty, strangers, and improperly clothed, that this is as if we have not cared for Jesus, Himself. It is made clear also in these verses that we must visit those who are sick and in prison.
Obviously, then in order to go to Heaven, we must be engaged in visiting those, who are in our area in this regard. We may not be able to visit all of the sick in the entire United States, but we can visit those who are round about us. God has never asked us to do something that is too hard or burdensome. I John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” “Grievous” means “burdensome,” so God’s commandments are not burdensome. We can then visit those who are in our area, who need to be visited. One might ask, “What does it mean to visit in the New Testament?” In this sense, it means “to go to see” and “to relieve.”
Let us make sure that we are doing all that we can do in this area of visitation. We can do this! Let us stay motivated!
-Jason Gann, TBC Registrar
