Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 1244 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Do Your Good Works Quietly – Meditation Monday


Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge.  Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy.  Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1244 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday.  Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy.  For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection.  You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer.  It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body.  As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.

 We are commanded to do good works, but for myself, and maybe for you also, we don’t mind if others are aware of what good works we are doing.  How should we do our good works for others as we build God’s kingdom? In our meditation today, let us consider:
Do Your Good Works Quietly
Good works, that is, being kind and assisting others that are in need and less fortunate than you are is an important part of our life as a Christ-follower.  All too often it is easy to fall into the trap of doing good works for the praise and recognition that we will receive.  The Apostle Paul teaches us something different in:

Titus 2:7

And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

Jesus’s half-brother James also teaches us to do our good works with humility that comes from wisdom.

James 3:13

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

Jesus himself tells us also how not to do good works as He condemns the religious leaders' actions in Matthew 6:5

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.

This is the working definition of hypocrisy: "to be seen by men." The Greek word for hypocrite,  originally meant "actor." First-century actors wore masks. A hypocrite, then, is one who puts on a mask, a false face.Jesus did not say, "Do not do good works." Nor did he instruct, "Do not let your works be seen." We must do good works, and some works, such as benevolence or teaching, may be seen in order to have an impact. So let's be clear. To do a good thing is a good thing. To do good to be seen is not. In fact, to do good to be seen is a serious offense. Here's why.

Hypocrisy turns people away from God. When God-hungry souls walk into a congregation of wannabe superstars, what happens? When God-seekers see singers strut like Las Vegas entertainers . . . When they hear the preacher—a man of slick words, dress, and hair—play to the crowd and exclude God . . . When other attendees dress to be seen and make much to-do over their gifts and offerings . . . When people enter a church to see God yet can't see God because of the church, don't think for a second that God doesn't react. Matthew 6:1 Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly,