IN THE SECRET

“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

There's an event called Big Week Out which I've gone to about five times now.  It's main purpose is for the young people of Adelaide to go out and participate in acts of community service like gardening, clowning, pancake stalls and house renovations.  Quite a lot of people attend this event.  It runs during the last week of January, which is the week before school starts in Australia.  During my previous experiences, the people I worked with at Big Week Out were really friendly and very sociable.  They were a good bunch of people to hang out with and to share experiences with. 

I've also been on three mission trips during my short lifetime, all of which were enjoyable in their own way.  Each time we set out to help people with different things, whether it be their health, their spiritual life, their English abilities or their music skills.  Each time I go away on a mission trip, people will tell me that it's so good of me to be willing to help out the needy and the poor.  Some will tell me that I'm such a good person, or that I'm a good Christian because I'm going out of my way to do God's work.

When I read through this morning's devotion, I immediately thought of Big Week Out and my mission trips. After reading Matthew 6:1-6 and 16-18, this line keeps coming into my head: "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." As I was reading the verses this morning, I kept asking myself one question - do I go out and participate in these activities because of my love for God and because I really want to do His work, or because I like the recognition and the stigma which comes from doing these activities?  

Although it's not 100% the latter, I'm still not proud to say that the latter does factor into my choice of participating or not.  I find the line between working for God and working for myself to be extremely thin, and it's a line which I often cross without realising or wanting to.  After this morning's devotion, I realise that I'm going to have to do a bit of self-interrogating and cross-examining in order to be at ease with myself.