Lenten devotional

Matthew 6:1-6

"Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven."

¹ “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.

² “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. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

I grew up in the church. My parents served on every board, my grandfather was the church custodian for years, and there was never any question on Sunday morning as to what we’d be doing. We would be at church. It wasn’t something we talked about, it was something we did. It was who we were.

And then in high school a national movement began called ‘See You At The Pole’ – where students would meet around the flagpole and pray in an effort to – well, I’m not sure, maybe raise awareness about their faith? I don’t know because I wasn’t there. I didn’t ever feel the need to head out early, one day a year, to gather in front of my school and proclaim to the town, well, to the students, parents and teachers mostly, that I was a Christian. That’s not how I was raised.

I was raised to help clean up after Sunday brunches and funeral luncheons at the church. I was raised to jump in and give a hand when the nursery was understaffed or the church sidewalks needed salting. I was raised to do what needed to be done, not talk about what needed to be done. And that’s still how I view my church service, and my faith, today.

Don’t get me wrong. I wear a cross necklace occasionally, I let others know I’m praying for them, I share my faith when I find an appropriate time. But I also make sure that I remember to act out my faith when no one’s looking, when it’s just God and me.

I chose this verse for my devotional mostly as a reminder to myself. At the end of the verse Matthew reminds us that our Father sees what we do in secret and He will reward us. Yes, it’s good to go out and spread the Word and to be a part of society and share our faith. But it’s also important to remember our relationship when no one else is around. Something I’ll try to refocus on this Lenten season as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection again.

PRAYER: Dear God, I beg of you to help me remember that the most important parts of our relationship are those that are secret, just between us. You want nothing more than for me to go into my room and close the door and pray, alone, to you. And I want the same. Thank you for reminding me of that. Amen.