So we’ve discussed asking God why.  We’ve discussed why I/we as Christians still do wrong things.  The finale why question may have as much to do with our relationship with our Heavenly Father versus our relationship with the world as any question there is.  And its answer causes us to look deep inside, which is normally a very needed and sometimes scary thing to do.  The question is:  “Why am I doing this good thing?”  This may seem the most unnecessary of all the questions.  If I’m doing a good thing then why should anyone care why I’m doing it.  Jesus, through the bible, seemingly says it makes all the difference in the world.  You see you know that question:  If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, did it make a noise?”  So likewise:  If I do a good deed and no one is around to know about it, do I need to make a noise so that people will find out about it?  Jesus is unequivocal in his warning about a person’s motives being as important, if not more important, than the deed itself.  Motives come from the heart.  If the deed is from the heart and from love, then the deed is all that matters.  If the deed is of the world then the doer wants credit and it is the credit that matters, not the deed.  “Therefore when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrits do in the church and in the streets, that they may have glory from people………I say to you they have their reward”  Mth 6:2 “And when you pray…do not be like the hypocrits….standing in church and on street cornors, that they may be seen by people………I say to you they have their reward” Mth 6:5  Think just a moment about how we look at “creditors”  Ones who want credit (in modern times that means money) for doing something for us like lending us money.

So back to the heart and spirit of the matter.  Why?  Why do I give or increase giving to the church?  Why do I pray for others?  Why do I help push a stalled vehicle out of the street?  Why do I write this blog?  Purely and simply, if I do it to bring praise to myself, then I have my reward and it is a very sad one.  For if it comes at all, it will be fleeting then soon forgotten.

So why do them if no one notices?  No one seemed to notice when a poor woman gave half of all she had to the church……Jesus noticed.   No one seemed to notice the sickly woman in the crowd who reached out to touch the hem of her Master’s clothes…………Jesus did.  When thousands were gathered, no one noticed a young boy with some fish and bread………..Jesus did.  And the results?  Does anyone think that after Jesus pointed out the woman giving in the temple that she went home and starved?  Because Jesus noticed imagine the untold blessings poured out upon her.  The unnoticed woman who touched Jesus robe?  Jesus noticed and healed her.  The boy with the fishes and bread to share?  Jesus fed the thousands.  When we do it out of love for Him, Jesus will take notice and will act; both in this life and the next.  And who doesn’t long to hear those wonderful words “Well done you wise and faithful servant”.  May all our actions be through and because of Him who humbly gave and continues to give so much to us.  And may you find the blessings in the right answer to Why?