“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” -Matthew 25:31-32

Today we have an opportunity to serve others in Christian love in the most simplest of ways. I am talking about our duty as Christians to take care of one another by getting vaccinated. Yes, there are those out there that call us “sheep” for accepting the Covid-19 vaccine the Lord has provided us through the miracle of science. And I for one am happy to be one of Jesus’ sheep, as He is the Good Shepherd.

We have seen that the goats, those that reject the idea of such simple servitude to others as wearing a mask to stop the spread of the Covid virus that has swept the earth like a Biblical plague. The Lord warned us this was coming through His prophet, Joseph Smith Jr.

“And there shall be men standing in that generation that shall not pass until they shall see an overflowing scourge, for a desolating sickness shall cover the land and shall not be moved.  But my disciples shall stand in holy places and shall not be moved.” -Doctrines of the Saints 26c:37-39 (Doctrine and Covenants 45:4d-e RLDS/CoC, 45:31-32 CJCLdS)

This is exactly what we are seeing now. Men and women whose hearts have waxed cold are upset that preventative measures are being taken to help keep people alive. Listening to angry voices, there are even those bragging about the overflowing hospitals as they feel these problems are proof of some greater “freedoms.” When the lives of our brothers and sisters take a back seat to our temporary personal comfort we must truly ask: What would Jesus do? What would Jesus ask us to do?

I testify that Jesus would ask that we all be His sheep, striving to take care of the herd, Jesus’ children—God’s children. Not ruled by fear, not being afraid of Covid for ourselves (vaccinated or not). But concerned for our children who cannot be yet receive the vaccine. Concerned for those already weakened fighting their lives against cancer, and other illnesses; those whose bodies are already weakened.

I feel for those who have already been seriously infected by Covid and are now experiencing the lasting effects of a serious lung infection, and for those 4,270,000 families, at the time of this writing, whose loved ones have been snatched from them prematurely. The Lord gave us masks to protect us while He helped us create a vaccine to protect us from disease. The miracle is in front of us, but too many people are ignoring it and pushing God’s miracle away.

Let us not be ruled by fear, but let us be ruled by our Christian desire to prevent any more death than is absolutely unavoidable. Let us be ruled by our empathy for families with real reasons they can’t be vaccinated as opposed to their own selfish egoism. We must not allow ourselves to be conned into believing the pseudoscience being sold by conspiracy theorists and ignoring epidemiologists and virologist who the true story, the reality that contradicts the false narratives too many want to believe. This is a dangerous path, choosing selfishness over the greater good. I for one would rather be a sheep in a herd that works together to take care each other, led by our Lord and Savior than the goat who only thinks of itself and it’s own wants and desires.

Let’s remember the words of our Savior:

“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.” -Matthew 25:34-36

Or in other words, Jesus is saying today, “When you wore your protective mask, you were wearing it for me; when you received the Covid vaccine, you were protecting me.”