Thought for August 5

 History:

  • 1305: William Wallace captured
  • 1861: First personal income tax--3% over $800
  • 1864: David Farragut wins Battle of Mobile--Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead
  • 1882: Standard Oil of NJ founded
  • 1914: 1st electric traffic light in US--Cleveland 
  • 1924: Little Orphan Annie comic strip published
  • 1936: Jesse Owens wins third Gold Medal in Berlin
  • 1953: From Here to Eternity released
  • 1981: Reagan fires 11,500 air traffic controllers
  • 2007: Tom Glavine wins 300th game
  • Born: Guy de Maupassant, John Huston, Neil Armstrong, Herb Brooks [Miracle on Ice], Loni Anderson, Maureen McCormick [Marcia Brady], Patrick Ewing, Lolo Jones, Patrick Reed
  • Died: Friedrich Engels [Communist Manifesto], Marilyn Monroe, Richard Burton, Paul Brown, Alec Guinness, Toni Morrison, 
Thought:
Beginning in Matthew 6, Jesus addresses three outward practices of righteousness, giving, praying and fasting.  First He gives a general warning: Beware. What does it mean to beware? Be careful or cautious; be on guard; be wary or take heed. Jesus often says "truly" or "verily" or "behold." In each case He is being emphatic--this is important. Here, He wants us to be careful when we do righteous acts that they are not done to be noticed by men; rather they are done as acts of worship to God. No matter how much we give, how much or how long we pray, or how carefully we fast, if these are done to get the approval or praise of men, we get no reward from God. Wow! Jesus says if you goal is to be praised by men, then don't expect any "well done" from Me. So I need to carefully consider my motives for any good work. 

So when [not if] I give alms, do not call attention to it. We immediately think about the widow's mite. The wealthy were entering the Temple dropping their coins into the inverted trumpets placed for the collection of the offerings. They approached with pomp, wanting to be seen. That made a show of dropping their coins, doing it to make as much noise as possible [think of the old slot machines pouring out the coins noisily]. Everyone should know I give generously. Then the poor widow with her coins approaches--the coins make a little off-key tingle. And Jesus says she has given the most for she gave out of her poverty all she had. 

Here "alms" is the word "eleemosunen"--acts of mercy from which we get eleemosynary. And perhaps we are reminded of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 who claimed to have given all the proceeds of a sale of land to the church, but withheld a portion. The problem was not with the amount they gave but with their claim of righteousness to impress others that was a lie. 

Lord, help me remember daily that every good work I do is not for the praise of man but for Your glory alone. Humble me Lord this day, so that one day You may exalt me at just the right time.

Blessings
Larry

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