…And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Why is it sometimes easier to believe that God will punish us than reward us? If we mess up, we beat ourselves up, hoping to do the job for God so that we can escape His wrath. When we fail, we attach the next negative event in our lives to the correction of our Father. When we look at our broken past, we ponder how we can repay it in the present and future. Why does this come so naturally, especially to those raised in traditions of holiness? Why do we think this way when the wrath of God has already been poured out on Jesus for our sake?
On the other hand, why do we look over the body of Christ and see a pattern of hunger for self-fulfillment and the elevation of the pursuit of selfish dreams of fame above all else? Why do we seek significance through making an impact? Why do we seek to lift ourselves up when Jesus modeled lowering Himself?
It’s not bad to want to make an impact, and it’s not bad to want to live holy. For the Pharisees of Jesus’s day, they wanted to do both.*
Jesus gives the key for holy living and for making an impact: do acts of service in secret.
Those times of life that I have done good things for others hoping that those of influence around me would see brought me nothing but an icky feeling and wasted time. What motivated me in this? I believed that those people of influence would see my good works and reward me here on earth. Even in those times that it gained me acceptance or approval of some sort, it didn’t give me what I really needed.
Other times, by God’s grace at work in my life, I did things that no one will ever know about. The purity of those moments left me in full confidence that my service was unto Him and Him alone.
Imagine what a life of secret goodness would look like. Imagine what it would feel like to walk into the end your life at an old age and be able to reflect on all the good that you did for God that only He knew about. What a sweet moment.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to abandon your desire for the appearance of holiness for actual holiness. Maybe God wants you to trust that He punished Jesus and wants to reward you for good works done unto Him. Perhaps God wants you to stop seeking your own influence and to start seeking obedience. Maybe God wants you to trust that He has your future so that you don’t have to keep looking to people to secure your destiny.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 135-139, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 6:1-4) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).