by Cathy Vinson

In reading the Sermon on the Mount, we encounter Jesus' description of the Father in Heaven. He teaches us about Him. We end up with lives put more in focus with the unseen, for the Father sees nothing more clearly than acts done in secret only for Him. To give and bear loss for the sake of the unseen Father can only be inspired by the Spirit of Christ. Everything else convinces us otherwise.

Do we bear loss to anything of our earthly pursuits for the heavenly Father? Matthew 5 and 6 inspire mourning, risked loss of relevancy, poverty, and insult for the Father yet unseen.

Let us MAKE opportunities for Father, in secret, for no one else's satisfaction but His. Little gifts...a song, a thank You, a raised hand, a prayer, a fast, a sacrifice for the needy. Jesus taught us how to pull such acts out of the control of being religious. Do them in quiet where it will advance no earthly pursuit of our own.

One day when the Father is finally seen, what treasure to our souls to know we chose against a life full of enticements, then to be seen in its dullness. While it remained enticing, we made choices against indulging for the sake alone of a greater hope...a Father we couldn't see.

(Matthew 5:12)