Work for the Father!
Matthew 6:1 “Be careful that you do not do your righteous works in front of people, so that they will notice. If you do, you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” (EHV)
Why do people tend to put all their accomplishments on their social media accounts? They want to receive praise. They want people to notice them and see their accomplishments. They like being put up on a pedestal. But there is a danger of doing this. Sometimes the opposite happens. The accomplishments do not stand up to the scrutiny, and it leads to a fall from grace and ridicule.
This is the danger we face as God’s people that Jesus warns against. Jesus does not want us to take pride in ourselves and the good things we do. We are not to work to make a name for ourselves. If we do, we will be humbled by the Father. No matter how righteous we think our works are and not matter what other people think of our righteous works, if we work to honor ourselves, we are in fact taking the place of the honor and glory of our God and Father. We come face to face with the fact that we are nothing but dust and ashes. Our righteous works done to honor ourselves just pave the way to hell. God will not reward us for anything we do for our own sinful pride.
This is a good warning for us. Our works should never honor us but the Father. We work for the Father because he has not counted our sin against us but sent his Son to rescue us from the flames of Hell that we deserve. We do not need to make a name for ourselves, but we work to make a name for our God and Father. If you work, make sure people see the Father through your works. He is the only one who can turn us from dust and ashes into living beings. And our lives are his though his Son that was sacrificed for us.
Dear Father, we repent in dust and ashes for all the times we took your honor and glory for ourselves. Help us focus on you and not on ourselves. You deserve the honor and glory in our works for you rescued us from the fires of hell through your Son. We ask this though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.