Hide in a Closet or Light on a Hill? Daily Bible reading for January 7

 Today we read from the following verses for our One Year Bible reading:

Genesis 16:1-18:15
Matthew 6:1-24
Psalm 7:1-17
Proverbs 2:1-5

And what jumped out at me today was the verse from Matthew. Jesus tells us that we shouldn't do our good deeds for everyone to see, but instead to hide in our closet when we pray. But elsewhere in the New Testament He tells us to shine our light on a hill for all to see. So which is it? Hide or shine?

Well, the answer (as with many things in life) lies in our motivation. WHY are we doing these good deeds? If I give a homeless person a dollar and then get on Facebook and tell everyone I gave a homeless person a dollar, is that bragging about my good deeds and losing my reward, or is it shining my light for all to see? Depends on WHY I'm sharing it on social media. Am I doing it so everyone will tell me how awesome I am? Then I'm doing it for the wrong reason and Jesus's words to "hide" my good works apply here. But if I share it on social media so I can remind other people and inspire them to do the same for homeless people in their communities, then I'm shining my light for all to see. 

So WHY we do good things or let others know we're doing good things is far more important than whether other people know we're doing a good thing or not. If I pray over my food in public because I want everyone to think I'm a perfect person and I want them to admire me, then I should instead be hiding my prayer. But if I'm praying over my food in public to remind other people to pray and not be afraid, then I'm shining my light.

God, thanks for teaching us that WHY we do things is sometimes more important than the things we do.