“What do I GET?” Isn’t that the question we begin asking at a very young age? We do something to please others—or win a game—and we want a prize! My sister and her five-year-old grandson, Truett, were here this past weekend. He’d gotten a new indoor golf set and couldn’t wait to show me how good he was at getting a hole-in-one! As he was lining up his shot, he told me, “I get to wash dishes!!” He’d won an earlier game…and the prize his grandmother gave him was getting to wash dishes after dinner! (Don’t laugh too hard—washing dishes is one of his favorite things to do!)
God tells us in Matthew 6 not to do things just to get a reward. Oh! There will be a reward if done in the right way—but it will come from the Father and not from men. Don’t pray just to get man’s attention. Don’t give and blare a horn so everyone notices. Don’t fast and look haggard just so men think you are pious. The only reward you receive when you do things to get noticed by men is the notice of men. There’s no reward from God. But when we focus on the kingdom of God and do these things to please Him, HE will reward us! It may not be an immediate reward—it may not even be given until we are in heaven. But we are to serve to please God and God alone.
Mom and dad came to pick Truett up yesterday. After hearing about his hole-in-one and the prize of washing dishes, his dad told him if he could get another hole-in-one, he could mop the floor when he got home! My guess is Truett will eventually learn not to trust the reward of men.
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