Matthew 6:1-6 ESV “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (2) “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (5) “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (6) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The secret place is the presence of God. Don’t do our religious stuff “before other people.” In other words, don’t do the good things described here — giving, praying, fasting, right acts in general — to be seen by people, in the presence of people.
We don’t play to the audience of people. We step away from the spotlight to a secret place — the presence of God.
I hope you see this. Do you want a greater awareness of God? His presence in your life and in this world.
Here is a portal revealed to us in God’s holy book. Do your right acts where God is. Be rewarded by God, which to me the greatest reward is his presence.
Isn’t it? What is greater than a total awareness of God, his love, his care, his kingship, his everything.
Not in our religious formulas or performance.
But in the secret place.
