And in his teaching Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Mark 12:38–40, ESV
God sees the heart and the reality of the Gospel, and those who share it do not do it because it will offer up a great payday in this life. At the time of Jesus and throughout history, there have been those who like to use God as a way to gain fame and notoriety. The false prophets that we read about are like the psychics and the like that we see today. For those that were as described as Scribes, they are like those we see today that have television and radio programs offering up great blessings if you give a large gift today or the healing tent revivalists that tell you that the demon will be cast out once you clear your bank account of a certain dollar amount. Jesus never once asked for payment when He cast out a demon, nor did He when He prayed over someone and brought healing. In fact, the opposite command was given when He sent out His disciples prior to the crucifixion. The calling to proclaim and teach the Gospel is exactly that, a calling, and it is done ultimately for God. The greatest compensation is being aligned with God’s will and seeing how He transforms lives as His Word is opened and revealed to hearts that are bound. The blessings that one receives from such actions are what God places on the hearts of another. It is all to God’s glory and His alone.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.