“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1 NLT)
Sometimes there’s a thin line between pointing praise to God and seeking to lavish praise upon ourselves. There are times when athletes point to heaven, kneel in the endzone, or in other ways direct praise for their accomplishments to the Lord. For example, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world records during the recent Olympics, but never failed to give glory to God. Or, I recently read about Jeremy Lin, the pro NBA player who wore a bracelet that said: “For Jesus’ Name I play.”
Are these, and many other, athletes/celebrities who reference their Christian faith seeking to win points with God, man, or both? Sometimes we may not know for sure, but that doesn’t really matter. What we think is irrelevant, is only and always what God knows. He’s the ultimate Rewarder, not us or anyone else.
That’s why the bottom line for each of us is to ask ourselves: “For whom am I playing this game of life? In my heart and mind, who am I really ‘playing’ for? Who am I seeking to impress?” To say there’s a little vanity in each of us is almost like saying, “There’s a little water in every ocean.” It’s all in the eye of the beholder.
God can hold the waters of the oceans in the palm of His hand, but for us to swim more than a few miles in the ocean is an impossible task for most humans. Sometimes there’s a thin line between bragging on God and our own desire for recognition and reward. Why is that even an issue? Why do any of us feel that’s even necessary?
Could it be our insecurities arise when we compare ourselves with others? Might it be we’re jealous of another’s accomplishments when we compare them to our own? Even as believers we engage in pettiness when we make known how long we pray or how many times we’ve read the Bible, or “We know Greek and Hebrew!” So, what, I know Mattie and Jeff at the coffee shop! It’s childish, immature, and unnecessary in the family of God.
We all, every single one of us, whoever we are, wherever we live “play” to an audience of ONE! It doesn’t matter what anyone, including ourselves, thinks, it only matters what “Daddy, God thinks.” I love this story from Ron Hutchcraft about a moment in his life when this point hit home for him.
Ron writes: “I’ll never forget the lesson I learned the day that my young son was helping me with yard work. I was mowing, and he was doing the clipping after me. And at one point, I kind of flashed a smile his way. And a few minutes later, he came over and he shouted above all the mower noise, ‘Daddy, could you please do that again?’ I turned down the mower and I said, ‘Do what again, son?’ ‘Could you just smile at me again, Daddy? It’s your smile that keeps me going. ’That’s what I want. I want to live for one thing – my Father’s smile.” (See A Word With You Playing for Jesus – 08-20-24)
Is that what you want? I pray it is. For me, I’m not just looking for my Father’s smile when I die, I long to see it every day, because I’ve learned I can do nothing without His help and enabling.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 