Ash Wednesday: Secret Religion
Goes along with Kids Devotion of the same title.
When we place ourselves on a pedestal, we always fall. Jesus picks us up.
Bible Focus: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” -Matthew 6:3-4
Why did Jesus come to Earth?
It’s obvious, of course - mankind sinned, and Jesus came to save it. But let’s make it a little more personal.
We sinned. You and I sinned. In fact, let’s change our verb tense. We sin. You and I sin. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. It’s happening now and it will continue to happen.
The assigned Gospel for Ash Wednesday gives us examples of how we sin. We put ourselves on a pedestal when we perform religious acts like giving to the needy, praying, and fasting. God commands us to perform these acts in secret, but we laud ourselves publicly.
We might not think of it that way. We may consider our sharing appropriate, helpful, even. But Jesus is clear - our giving, our prayer, our fasting, should be secret, done for God and our neighbor alone. Not for us. We should seek no recognition for our actions.
Ash Wednesday effectively kicks us off that pedestal. On this day, we are reminded of our innate sinfulness and inevitable death. We have earned nothing more than condemnation. None of our religious acts, public or not, are enough to save us.
But as we stated earlier, Jesus came to save us. Jesus, who deserves to be on that pedestal, willingly stepped off and joined us on Earth. He did this with full knowledge of our hypocritical acts of religious piety. And at the beginning of his ministry, he even performed his own religious acts of giving, praying, and fasting in secret, as we are commanded to do.
Matthew 6 is a command: do good where no one can see you. It is also a promise: you will be rewarded. Our reward is our salvation. Our reward is to be back on that pedestal, replaced there by Jesus and covered by him, so that when God the Father looks at us, he sees Jesus instead.
Your challenge this week:
Give to the needy, pray, or fast from something. Tell no one.
Please pray:
Dear Jesus, you are holy, without sin. I confess that I am a sinner, seeking recognition for my religious acts. I thank you for your goodness and mercy in spite of my sin. I ask that you would continue to forgive and strengthen me. In Your name I pray, Amen.
