“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven.” — Matthew 6:1
No Fans
Who are you when no one is watching?
The underestimated challenge of the new baseball season is playing with no fans in the stands. Foul balls and home runs banging against empty seats will echo through stadiums all over the country. The dream of playing in front of thousands of fans will be put on pause this year.
Players will be forced to answer the question, “What will drive me to perform well?” Jesus poses the same question to us: “What drives your love for Me? What drives your service to Me?”
He addresses this is Matthew 6:1-4:
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others 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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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.”
Jesus invites us to check our heart as we perform in front of others just for the sake of being seen. Our light will shine stronger in front of others when we shift our focus to Jesus and away from pleasing the crowds. That means the echo of silence in this world means loud cheers in Heaven and unseen rewards that are to come. Praise be to God!
As we have learned, crowds come and go. Let’s serve the One who never leaves or forsakes us — our Lord Jesus. The only one who matters will always be watching, cheering louder than any temporal crowd ever could.
— Ryan Noelte
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