The Heart of the Matter

A man walks down the street and sees a beggar on the side of the road and buys him a meal. Another man walks down the side of the street and sees a beggar and gives him his lunch. Who is the more righteous?

Now let me tell you some more details. A man walks down the street and sees a beggar on the side of the road. He is not a believer, but he is attracted a Christian woman whom he met at work. She won’t go out with him because he does not know the Lord. He looks up and notices the lady standing on the street corner across the road waiting for the bus. He thinks, “If she sees me help this man, she will think that I am a decent person, and she will go out with me.” Looking up, assured that the woman sees him, he steps over to the beggar, gives him a hug and offers to buy him a meal in the restaurant behind them. Another man walks down the street and sees a beggar. The man looks at the beggar and wonders when the beggar had his last meal. He thinks about how God has provided him with so much. He walks over and gives the man his lunch. Who is more righteous?

In God’s economy why we do things is more important than the things that we do. The first man was motivated by his love and desire for something for himself. He was willing to be deceptive in order to get it. The second man did not think about the fact that he might go hungry for lunch, he thought about what God had done for him and that motivated him to do something kind for one less fortunate than himself.

Jesus said that all the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love for God first and then and for our neighbor should be our only motives for anything we do. When our motive is not love for God, the good deed is nothing more than manipulation. In other words, like the man who was trying to get the lady to go out with him, we use the good deed to get what we want.

Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Do we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? Do I love the Lord like that?

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