Seen or Unseen

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

SEEN OR UNSEEN

Prov 20:6

6 Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?

NIV

Other translations as well as the original Hebrew version use the word goodness rather than unfailing love. However the implication of the Hebrew is this goodness or unfailing love is directed toward God. So it would seem this proverb is speaking about people who profess to have an unfailing love toward God, professing how good a Christian they are, but in actuality their actions do not back up their words. This should give us something to think about. It is far better to just be faithful then to claim so. We have seen this with remarks about the Pharisees, or those who stand on the corner beating their chests. Among all the woes Jesus spoke at the Pharisees this portion shows the intent of this proverb.

Matt 23:5-7

5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'

NIV

Doing our good deeds so openly as to make sure everyone sees us doing them seems to have little merit. This certainly agrees with the idea of when we give to the poor, not to let our right hand know what are left hand is doing.

Matt 6:2-8

 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

NIV

This all goes hand and glove with the saying “Actions speak louder the words”. We should be a person of action, and not so much of words about them. Sure we think testimony time is about telling how we did something for God, but in actuality it is about what God did for us. We need to be aware of how we voice that testimony and make sure we are not even taking the credit because God did it for or through us for someone else. It is easy to allow ourselves to get puffed up by the praises of men, but this should not be. Whatever we do we should be careful not to seek the praise from men, but from God. So let us be about doing whatever the Spirit prompts us to do simply because we desire to be faithful. We should not care if we are seen or unseen but is it better to be unseen then seen. Let us just try to be about our Father's business.