Thursday, August 27, 2009

Simple Thoughts On Promises- 157

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:3,4)

When we give to the needy and make proclamations about it, we receive the kudos and applause from men. That becomes our reward.
Jesus said,
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. (Matthew 6:1, 2)

But when we do acts of charity secretly without others knowing about it, our heavenly Father seeing what we did in secret will reward us according to the richness of his grace. Definitely, the rewards that come from heaven are much greater than what men can ever give.

Perhaps no one may know what we are doing and no one may acknowledge us openly in that respect, but everything is noted down by heaven in secret.

Not that we can receive salvation by doing good in secret, as some other religions believe; we are saved by Jesus Christ to do good works.

Paul exhorted the Galatian believer's in this manner:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:9,10)

Greater rewards await us as we (believers) wait patiently doing good in the name of Jesus. The great promise made by the Lord regarding his return still awaits completion and every believer must look forward to that glorious day when the Savior fulfills this promise of his:
"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. (Revelation 22:12)

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