Reading the passage in Matthew 6:1-18 this morning, I was struck the repeated phrase “the Father who sees in secret” (verses 6 and 18) and the similar words “the Father who sees in secret” at verse 4.
Underlined for emphasis and set in their context, we read the words of Lord Yeshua saying:
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. (Matthews 6:3-4)
and
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 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 6:5-6)
and
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 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.
This brought to mind the words of a Psalm I had recently read at Psalm 91:1:
‘He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’
Pondering on the question of what it means to ‘dwell in the secret place of the Most High’ it seems to me that the very next verse in the Psalm illuminates and illustrates the answer:
‘I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
My God, in Him I will trust.’ (Psalm 91:2)
It was as though I was being enabled to glimpse something of a tie-in here: that heart attitude of faith in God expressed in firm trust in Him stated in Psalm 91 tied together with the faith and trust in the Lord finding expression in true contentment in serving the Lord in ways unseen by others.
It really doesn’t matter who sees uprightness in your heart while labouring for Lord Yeshua and/or the actual labours themselves – what matters is that ‘your Father who is in the secret place’ sees. Whether in this life or life in His coming everlasting kingdom – or both – He will reward you.
A final thought on that last point: if it pleases the Father to reward you in the age to come rather than in this present life, He has already given us all, who by His grace through faith have believed upon His Son Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the greatest reward of all. God Himself and in Him salvation in eternal and everlasting life. Remember the words which God spoke to His friend, Abram: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward’ (Genesis 15:1). In Messiah Yeshua, as we believe upon Him, holding fast to our faith in Him, we too can know that Almighty God, our heavenly Father is our ‘exceedingly great reward’. Ponder on this awesome truth!
The one true God – God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – sees your labours for the name of Lord Yeshua though unseen by those around you. Be encouraged therefore for ‘your Father who is in the secret place’ sees.
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