See what you’ve done

Whose attention are we trying to get?

Matthew 6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

As innumerable as the character and personalities of people are, so are the reasons why the do the things they do. I’ve always tried to do things for my own reasons. I’ve tried to accomplish what I felt was important and good. However, if I am totally honest I have to admit that while I don’t do things solely for the approval of others; their recognition of what I do matters to me.

I imagine in some way we’re all looking for validation from outside ourselves. We don’t live in a vacuum after all and as social creatures we humans crave the at least the validation if not the admiration of our fellow beings. Unfortunately that reward is meted out by a fickle bunch (us) and thus what’s recognized and lauded as excellent and awesome today may very well go unnoticed tomorrow. Such are the vagaries of people. It doesn’t make them wrong it just makes them human. We would do far better to rely on our Father.

As the scripture says the things for which we receive a reward aren’t visible to others and this can be difficult. The accepted markers of success that the world pushes us to attain are a strong pull in our daily lives. Every day we try to fill a need to reach the milestones of this earth; those things visible to others. It’s an almost irresistible yearning to meet the accepted, public and visible status that many of us, me included, give in to. But Matthew’s call is to turn away from that.

Yearn for the rewards of your Father in heaven. Strive to be recognized by your God. Do these things privately and be assured of the ultimate approval.

We’re all hard at it every day aren’t we? We’re trying to get things done. But why? I urge you to get back to your center and find what is truly valuable and pursue it with all your heart whether it’s seen or unseen. If you know someone who might be chasing things for the approval of someone else, please share this with them.

Every Saturday I send an email to my subscribers with links to that week’s posts. Subscribing is free and I don’t share your email addresses with anyone else. If you would like to subscribe, just click here.

Want to read more? Great! Click this and you will go back to the home page.