² Therefore 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 have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Matthew 6:2

This is a continuation from yesterday, giving alms in secret, in this verse Jesus contrasts that to “hypocrites”. Jesus paints this type of person in a lot of different ways, hypocrites are impostors or deceivers. These people have a motive that isn’t quite pure.

I think about the little donation bins at Walmart for the children’s hospital, they are kinda cool, a lid on a can, but when you put your money in the slot the coins go through a Rube Goldberg contraption, and the coin eventually makes it way to the slot and disappears doing good for children in need. The reward was the bells, the whistles, the being out in the front by the checkouts where people see you… thinking “He’s such a good person for giving his change that he would otherwise loose in his car to such a noble need.”

I don’t have a problem with this type of device, they are fun, but it’s the secret rewards that are honored. The ones where we don’t know how the money appeared, or who the heck gives a person a $70,000 Suburban, The reward isn’t the giving, it’s from the father who sees this act in secret.

The hypocrite says “There is no God!”, they are the ones seeking the heart of men to be a god on earth. We see a lot of that, the celebrity, the star, the benefactor, who are always in the spotlight. As Christians our reward are from the Father above, who owns all things. Nothing is outside his control.

Lord, you know my heart, give me compassion to see those in need, give me the resources to help them, give me the opportunity to do these deeds in secret, and Lord give me the honesty to give you glory for what you are doing in my life.

T W T D T A, D M S A T B T, A T H D I T S A I T S, T T M H G O M. V I S U Y, T H T R.