Stop!

On my commute to work today I came to a light that turned yellow. I had to make an assessment... should I go through the light or do I have time to stop. I chose to stop. There was a car in the lane beside me that decided to go through the light.

As they ran the red light, a motorcycle cop in the oncoming lane made a left into a gas station. I am sure the person driving the car made a sigh of relief because the they didn't get pulled over by the cop.
What the driver didn't realize, and what I saw as well as the police officer was that there were traffic enforcement cameras. The person that thought no one caught them running the light will receive a ticket in the mail some time in the future!

This made me think about church... I'm not making a judgment call at all, but there are times in church where some people do things because they think others are watching... or sometimes they DON"T do things because other people are watching...

What happened to doing things just because it's the right thing to do? I'm not going to explore that, because that's a topic reserved for another day.

What I did want to do today was put things into perspective. As Christians, everyone is watching us on a daily basis. In all honesty, it doesn't matter what others think about what we do. Our primary goal should be to live our lives constantly aware that God is watching us.

We should not do things because we think other people will praise us. We should do things because it pleases God.

Let's make it a point to keep things in perspective this weekend. If we pray, let us pray so God hears us, not so others think we pray well. If we teach, let us teach with humility. If we feed the hungry, let us do it because it's the right thing to do, not so we can brag about it to our friends.
Let us be mindful that we are trying to please God and not man.

"Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don't do as hypocrites do - blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the rewards they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Matt 6:1-4 NLT