February 1
Read: Matthew 6:1-8
When I arrived at church this evening, I noticed immediately someone had repaired a broken swing in the playground. It has been broken for about five weeks, and I intended to get to it, but it just hadn’t happened yet.
Well, apparently I was not the only one concerned, and sometime today a very kind and caring person took the initiative to buy a part and repair the chain. I praise the Lord for their diligence and their faithfulness, and I thank the Lord for caring church members. In our next service, if I remember it, I may mention it. I will say I don’t know who did the repair, but God does, and He never forgets a cold drink of water given in His name. I will not mention Matthew 6:1-8, but I’ll be thinking about it.
In this passage, the Bible talks about doing alms. Alms are good works of any kind. They almost always include giving of some sort but the subject is not limited to giving. The Word says, “...when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” Jesus’ teaching here is that we can do the right thing for the wrong reason. If we do what we do to be seen of and receive glory from men, we will get what we want. But...that’s all the reward we can expect. In the other hand, in verses 3 and 4, we are told: “...when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” If no one knows who did the deed, then who gets the glory? God alone. And that’s the point. We have nothing that He did not provide, and why should we be rewarded for using God’s stuff?
It will be interesting to see if the person who did the repairs makes sure that others know it. If they do, then they will have gotten what they seek. How much better to receive our reward of our Father which seeth in secret?
Just a servant,
Bro. Tom
Truth is Eternal - Balthasar Hubmaier
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