Minute Meditations

There was a plaque that stood on President Ronald Reagan’s desk which said, ”It is amazing how much can be accomplished when you don’t care who gets the credit for it.” This saying has recently been acted out in a very real way when the editor of ”The Tidings” was invited to Jamaica to unveil the cornerstone for their soon-to-be-built ecclesial hall. Our editor immediately enlisted others to accompany him and he then pushed them forward. He was anxious to see the goal accomplished and he cared for that more than he did for the personal recognition that was truly and rightfully his. He was scheduled to give the exhortation but again he seized the opportunity of inviting a brother visiting Jamaica from England to fill in for him.

His attitude was like that of an athlete willing to pass the ball to the one under the net or throw the key block so that another can carry the ball into the end zone.

It isn’t who scores that is important. It is scoring that counts. In the truth, there are those who don’t care who gets the credit, but sometimes there are those who always want to make sure that they are noticed. Jesus warned us of those who do their alms to be seen of men and he said, ”verily they have their reward.”

It is interesting to watch children in a playground while their parents sit on the side line. One after another of the children will call out to their parents to ”watch me,” or ”did you see me go down the slide?” For the child it is important that the parent see their great or small accomplishments.

Paul spoke of the fact that when he was a child, he spake as a child, he understood as a child and he thought as a child. When Paul became a man, he put away childish things. It is the mature brother and sister who are more interested in seeing the project completed than in trying to get the credit for it. God knows what we do and what we don’t do and we should not be doing our works to be seen of men.

Let us be involved in helping get the job done. It does not matter who does it, but rather that the work is completed.

Now this is different from the way the world usually thinks. In the world, people do want to be recognized for what they do. Men want to call their lands after their own names, says the Psalmist. Every university has buildings, halls, and stadiums named after those who have contributed great sums so that their deeds may be remembered and etched in stone.

One university wrote to their alumni asking for large donations and promised that for one million dollars they would name a building after the donor. For five hundred thousand they could have the wing of a building bear their name and for only one hundred thousand a room would be named in their honor. One poor graduate wrote back, sent ten dollars, and asked if they would simply write his name with chalk on the floor.

We should not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing, said Jesus. Let us find a work to do and do it with our might. When our Lord returns, then we will be remembered for good. This is what Nehemiah did as he constantly prayed to his God. He said, ”Think upon me, my God, for good.” And, ”Remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy.”

When it came time to have a Bible school in Jerusalem, Nehemiah chose Ezra and set him up on the pulpit above the people to teach them. Nehemiah did not care about getting the credit from man. He just wanted to see that the people received the godly instruction Ezra and the others supplied. Let us, like Nehemiah, say to our heavenly Father, ”Remember me, O my God, for good.”