Daily Bread 2-14-18

The Sermon on the mount (Cont'd)

Matthew 6:3-6

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy eft hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which teeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

ref. - Jer 17:10 - I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

When we do something good, we need not announce it as the Lord sees our actions and knows our intentions. As well, when we pray we do not need to announce ourselves or to pray so others can hear us. The Lord is trying the reins of our hearts. He also knows our intentions and our needs when we pray as well. Although it sounds nice to announce our prayers, the ones that he is waiting for are the ones that we make when in private and just one on one with him. This is not to discount praying aloud or to promote praying in silence. The word of God says today what part of the prayer is important; It is the prayer that cannot be uttered. It reminds me of a saying of a little boy asked to pray for his meal and he prays quietly. His Uncle Tom says, "we couldn't even hear you." The boy says, "I wasn't talking to you." Although this is just a story it does go with Christ's wishes for us. We are not giving alms to impress man, nor are we praying to impress man, we are doing what we do out of gratitude and because this is who he made us when he saved us. We are praying out of need for support and blessing because he is the one who has helped us when no one else could. He is the one who allowed his son to die on that cross and to suffer on this earth to show us the way. And it is through his son that we now give alms and it is through his son that we pray for our help. He will reward us according to our ways and our doings. This may discount those false prophets that say we do not have to do anything and we do not have to change but they need to be exposed for what they are. And we, as faithful followers of a risen savior need to be acknowledged for who we are, followers of Christ. The difference is, a false prophet wants to be acknowledged by man, this is why he changed the Gospel, and a true follower is looking for acknowledgement from Christ. What come from man is temporary and what comes from God is eternal!! Let's march forward into eternity with Jesus Christ!! Have a great day!!!