Daily Devotional

-January 8, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

-Serve The Lord In Secret-

“But when you do your charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; that your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” (Matthew 6:3-4).

“But you,when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:6).

“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:17-18).

Jesus taught His disciples to do everything in secret before men. This was in stark contrast to what the Pharisees did. They did everything for show, to be seen by others. They always sought the approval of man not of God. We are to be humble servants, not to care who gets the credit as long as God gets all the glory.

Man loves the limelight, to be praised, and to look good; but God sees the heart. Jesus taught that giving, praying, and fasting should always be in secret. God who sees in secret will reward us at the Judgment Seat of Christ. There are times when others find out and commend us, then we should always give all the glory to the Lord.

Proverbs 27:2 says, “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” When we give, we give in secret; and when we do good, we do it in secret.

This applies to prayer as well. We should pray in secret and bring our requests to God. Now this is not to say we shouldn’t pray publicly in prayer meetings, we should, and when we do our prayers shouldn’t be to impress others who hear us pray. Our prayers are to the Father in Jesus’ name.

Not only should we give and pray in secret, we should also fast in secret. When there is something very urgent, we should go without food and show our earnestness before God. In Scripture, prayer and fasting always went together with prayer being listed first. God always sees and hears.

Let us then give and do good in secret, pray in secret, and fast in secret. God will always see and reward us openly. He sees what is in our hearts and what our true motive us. Everything we do should be out of love for Christ and for His glory.

Have a blessed day serving the Lord in secret for His glory. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean