The Secret Reward

Scripture Reading: Matthew 6: 1-7

“Mommy, watch me skip rope,” little Joanie begs, “I’m really good at it.”

 

“Will you be able to come to the game tonight and watch me pitch?” Tony asks his friends, hopefully.

 

We all love to be at the center of attention, don’t we?  To be noticed by others for doing something special?  It’s in our nature.  We need accolades, and we turn often to our fellow humans to get them.

But Jesus, in today’s scripture from the Sermon on the Mount, is calling his disciples to give up their natural human desire for center stage, as He points out the spiritual hypocrites’ motivation for making sure their religious behavior is observed:

·         They practiced their righteousness before men to be noticed by them

·         They sounded a trumpet when giving alms to be honored by men

·         They prayed standing in synagogues and on street corners to be seen by men

Jesus is teaching His disciples, then and now, that man’s accolades are fleeting, the applause, short-lived.

Stand before the Lord in private – your audience of One who sees you, notices you, honors you – will repay you in secret.  And His reward is long-lasting…ever-lasting, in fact.

“Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master (Matthew 25:21).”  Could there be any better reward than seeing the joy on our Father’s face?

 

Prayer:  Thank you, Father, that we know the joy of your reward in the privacy of our heart – and that it is more than enough. Amen.