George B. Thomas
There's a moment in Matthew 25:31-32 that arrests your soul. It's not a parable cloaked in mystery or an abstract teaching to ponder later. It's a scene, final, unavoidable, glorious. The Son of Man, Jesus, returns.
Not as the quiet carpenter or the suffering Savior, but as the cosmic King. Angels surrounding Him. Glory radiating. Nations gathered. And in a moment, He separates people like a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
Let that image sit with you, not as a distant theological idea, but as a real moment yet to come because this isn't just about someday. It's about how you live today.
The Quiet Power of the Shepherd's Voice
In biblical times, sheep and goats grazed together during the day. To the casual observer, they looked the same, mixed in the same field, part of the same flock. But at night, a shepherd would separate them. Why? Sheep and goats behave differently. Sheep follow. Goats wander, sheep trust. GGoatchallenge. It's about how they appear, it's about their nature.
Jesus isn't talking about livestock. He's talking about us.
Professionally, you may be grazing in a field full of movement and noise, meetings, strategy, hustle, and success metrics. But Jesus isn't measuring your life by proximity to Christian culture or business success. He's asking: Are you following my voice in the chaos? Or are you leading yourself?
In leadership, the temptation is always to become the shepherd, to take charge, to be independent, to be in control. But in the Kingdom, greatness begins by being a good sheep. That means being led, trusting, and listening when your instincts say otherwise.
And here's the twist: The best leaders are the best followers.
The Goats in the Boardroom
Let's talk about the goats, not as judgment, but as reflection. Goats are not evil. They're just independent. They graze near the sheep but don't listen to the same voice. They eat what they want and go where they please. They might look like the ones getting ahead, innovative, self-directed, and dominant in business.
But Jesus isn't impressed by the optics. He's watching the heart posture behind the performance. Are you building your brand on self-reliance? Are you leveraging influence at the expense of the overlooked? Are you doing "good" things to appear righteous, or because your heart is tethered to the Shepherd?
Here's where the emotional tension surfaces: You can be a goat in sheep's clothing. You can crush goals and still miss the Kingdom. You can sit in the C-suite and stand apart from the throne room.
This isn't about fear. It's about focus.
Loving the Least: The Hidden Metric of Heaven
Jesus goes on (Matthew 25:35-40) to say that how we treated the "least of these", the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the imprisoned, is how we treated Him. That flips the metrics of success upside down. In heaven's economy, service isn't a side task. It's the leading indicator.
So here's the leadership question: Who are your "least of these"?
In your organization, it could be the intern nobody notices. The underperforming team member is struggling silently. The client who can't offer you anything in return. The barista you breeze past. The family member you keep at arm's length.
Jesus is crystal clear: Your response to them is your response to Him.
That means our actions, especially the mundane, unnoticed, and ordinary, are spiritual. Every meeting, email, and interaction is a brushstroke on the canvas of your eternal legacy.
A Call to Recalibrate
Let's get brutally honest. You're busy, building, and navigating a world that doesn't exactly reward selflessness. But this passage confronts us with a question we can't ignore: What am I becoming while I pursue what I'm building?
Because here's the hard truth: You can't automate obedience. You can't delegate compassion. You can't outsource love.
You must embody it.
And the good news? You don't have to figure it all out on your own. The Shepherd doesn't just give commands, He provides presence. He walks with you. He speaks through the noise. And when you follow His voice, your life, not just your business, starts to carry eternal weight.
From Transactional to Transformational
In business, we're trained to think transactionally: ROI, KPIs, margin, efficiency. But Kingdom people think transformationally.
They ask: What's the eternal return on this investment? Who becomes more whole because of this decision? How does this strategy reflect the heart of Jesus?
That shift, from transactional to transformational, will cost you. You might move more slowly. You might choose integrity over influence. You might elevate others before yourself. But in the end, those are the actions that echo in eternity.
Faithfulness is your legacy.
The Final Audit
If Jesus conducted an audit of your life and leadership today, what would stand out? Not your follower count. Not your profit margin. Not your accolades.
He'd ask: Did you love me in how you treated the ones everyone else overlooked?
That's the core of today's Scripture. That's the fire behind this article. And that's the invitation in front of you right now.
You don't need to do more. You need to follow better. You need to return to the Shepherd's voice. You need to let love, not ambition, lead.
Take the Next Step
Here are three questions to guide your next move:
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Where am I operating more like a goat, self-led, self-reliant, self-centered, than a sheep?
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Who in my life or leadership have I overlooked as "least of these"?
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What does following Jesus' voice look like in my next decision, meeting, or conversation?
These aren't guilt questions. They're growth questions. They're about becoming the kind of person who will stand on the right side of eternity, not because you nailed perfection, but because you walked with the Shepherd.
So go ahead. Reflect. Realign. Recommit.
Because how you love now echoes forever. And the King is watching, not with condemnation, but with compassion, inviting you to live a life that matters where it counts most."What matters is whether we are following Him in our hearts."
Let that be your metric.
Let that be your mission.
A Prayer for the Heart That Leads and Follows
Father,
In the stillness of this moment, I pause to acknowledge You, not just as King on a throne, but as the Shepherd of my soul. You see past my performance, titles, and to-do lists, and you look at my heart.
Teach me to follow Your voice more than I follow strategy. Help me to trade self-reliance for surrender. In the spaces where I lead, let me lead with love. In the places where I serve, let me serve with joy. Remind me that success is what I build with my hands and who I become in the process.
When I'm tempted to hustle harder than I listen… slow me down.
When I overlook the least, the last, or the one… open my eyes.
When I confuse productivity with purpose… re-center me on what matters most: You.
Let my life reflect Your compassion, my business reflect Your integrity, and my days echo with decisions that make heaven smile.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Take a moment to listen. He's still speaking. The Shepherd's voice is never far.
