Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Today's Passage: Matthew 5

To be honest this my absolute favorite lengthy passage in the entire Bible, which begins the teachings of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. Just trying to focus and write on one subject is similar to a young boy going into the largest and most beloved toy store and the mother telling the child that he may only choose one toy! Despite this difficulty, I will choose to focus on the middle section of the chapter that discusses the disciples of Jesus (5:13-20).

Now almost every one of us has read this passage about salt and light and probably heard it taught even more. However, verse 16 really causes me to stop and think about my life. Jesus tells his disciples there are two specific reasons to let your light shine in front of men: first, so people may see their good works; second, that God the Father may be glorified.

Does Jesus really mean people should be able to see my good works? Apparently that is exactly what Jesus meant. The clincher is that your works should never be separated from the Father being glorified. There is a profound difference between doing good works so people see me and become impressed with how religious or righteous I am, and doing good works so that people give glory to the Father. As Jesus often does in his teachings, here he is checking the motivation of his disciples (that includes me and you). So I have to ask myself the question, "Why do I do the things I do?" "Do I seek the glory from people or do I seek for people to glorify God?" We should all be doing good works (most of us do good works in some form or fashion), but why should we do them? All I want to do is help people come to know the God who loves me and who loves them as well, but sometimes my selfish, and self-promoting nature gets in the way. Let's all do a favor for those around us...let's check our motives! May we be people who make much of God in everything we do!