The Greater Reward
The Greater Reward
Matthew 6:2, 5, 16
When Cooper was about eighteen months old, Carlin put a cookie in front of him and told him not to eat it until she returned. If he waited, he would get a second cookie. She set up her phone and left the room for about seventy seconds.
Cooper stared at the cookie. He picked it up. He may have even smelled it. But he did not eat it!
How often do you and I take what is right in front of us rather than wait for something better?
In Matthew 6, Jesus repeats a sobering line about those who give, pray, and fast to impress others: “Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
They wanted admiration, and they got it. But they settled for the applause of people rather than the reward of their Father.
What reward do you want? Are you more concerned with being thought generous and prayerful, or with actually growing closer to God? We live in a world of instant gratification, and the approval of others feels good right now. It can be tempting to perform devotion for the credit it brings.
That temptation becomes especially dangerous when we care more about looking holy than being holy. Our spiritual life can become something we practice to be admired rather than a way we abide with God.
Where do you recognize that temptation in yourself? What needs to continue—and what motive needs to change?
