Tuesday 21 Feb 2017

February 21: Matthew 6:1-4

Key Verse: Matthew 6:1
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Devotion:
Yesterday we touched on the fact that we may be able to fool some people some of the time about our spiritual laziness by continuing to do the right things. Our only problem with this is we cannot hide it from God! Christ warns us here about hypocrisy and the outward show of religious duties or alms. A firm reminder that He is able to see right through us and that only genuine behaviour is acceptable to God.

If we are going about our duties just because we think it is the way it should be done, or because we are called Christians or just to impress other people, then the only people we are fooling are those we are performing in front of. God is not fooled and will certainly not accept your performance as anything else other than the work of fiction it is! This is a sin that may be encouraging others, but when it is uncovered, it may well do more damage than a simple admission up front. When we continue to do things just to service our pride rather than God then we should look for no other reward than the one we are serving up to ourselves.

It is our choice as to what we do with our lives. It is our choice as to whether we serve God as a willing subject, or whether we serve our own pride and keep God second. (Exodus 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.) Our pride, when we serve it before God, becomes our god because we are holding it before God!

There is no need to publish the fact that you do things. There is no need to tell the world you can do things for God. There is a need to encourage others by doing things and encouraging others to do things, but the fine line is crossed when we do it for our own pride before God's will!

Points to Ponder:
Do people know you because of your character?

Do you serve God honestly in private?