Jesus gives us perfect instructions to turn our darkness into light in Matthew 6:1-34.
Key One
Our Lord warns us that the first requirement to have our darkness turned into light is to be submitted to God in well-doing. We are not to do our acts of righteousness before men in order to be seen by them. In doing so, we will have no reward from God. When we seek the honor and applause of men, we forfeit the reward of the Lord.
On the other hand, we are to not let even our left hand know when we give to the needy so that our giving is a secret even to our ‘self’ and we do not get puffed up with pride. This will lead to our Father seeing our giving done in secret and rewarding us. Our Father rewards us because we do not seek to do our will but to do the Father’s will, for God is pleased with such sacrifices. – Heb 13:16.
Key Two
God requires us to pray to Him to dispel our darkness and bring forth His light. Jesus taught us to pray that His kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy come and His Holy Spirit dwell more and more in us. He desires that we ask for the Holy Spirit to help us attain godliness. As we pray earnestly, tremendous power is made available to us. – Jam 5:16. We are encouraged to pray at all times, with all kinds of requests and for all kinds of people. We must seek the Lord in our distress for He is our ever-present help in trouble. – Psalm 46:1. We must not fear even if the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, for God who dwells in us will make sure that we do not fall. He is our fortress. (vs. 2-7)
Key Three
Our Lord speaks about fasting and explains that while fasting, we ought not disfigure our faces to show men we are fasting (verse 16). Doing so will keep us from our eternal reward, for we will have received our reward in full. What does this mean? In life, we are often required to go without several things. We may not be allowed to have the desires of our hearts. Food is just an example but the Lord is alluding to us being without basic necessities such as a home, children and so on. People often think of a home as an absolute necessity but Jesus had no place to lay His head. Similarly, we read about Israel being captured by Babylon and the people of God being sent into exile (with no home of their own).
People believe that it is necessary to be married and have at least one child as a basic necessity to live. However there are many unmarried people as well as childless couples (many women in the Bible were barren). The Lord may not give us these things though we believe we must absolutely have them. This is when we are forced to fast.
What must our attitude be when we are fasting? We must not tell others about our lack and the pressing needs we are facing in our lives. We must instead put oil on our heads and wash our faces.
You must not reveal the hardship you are under but allow the anointing oil of God’s grace to fill your heart so that your face shines with glory. This is when the Father who is unseen will reward you because you underwent a trial but did not blaspheme the Name of the Lord by making Him look unloving and harsh. Instead you were understanding of the ways of God and the purposes of His trial toward you and you were patient in your suffering as you went about praising and worshiping Him in your trial, giving Glory to our awesome God—thus preparing the way for the Father to bless (reward) you for your well-intentioned actions.
Those who fail to do so let go of their reward because all they will receive is the comfort of others who try to placate them in their sorrow. They will not be comforted with divine comfort as they only seek to be commended and praised for going through their hardship, without understanding the wonderful purpose of God in giving them the trial.
The Lord alone offers true comfort as He says to Jerusalem who suffered desolation at the Hands of the Lord—“These double calamities have come upon you—who can comfort you?” – Isaiah 51:19. The Lord redeems His people and thus comforts them. We read in Isaiah 52:9-10: “Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.”
The purpose of God in letting us endure trials and lack is to save our souls. He commands us to depart and touch no unclean thing, to come out of it and be pure. The Lord will cause a change in our hearts as we look only to Him in our hour of need and seek His face single-heartedly. We are to let go of all other thoughts and focus entirely on the Lord and His unfailing love. When we do this, we are transformed and able to live holy in Him.
Key Four
Jesus teaches us in verses 19-21 of Matthew 6 that we must not store up for ourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy. Thieves break in and steal earthly wealth but there is another treasure which cannot be stolen, consumed (eaten) or destroyed. These are unfailing, heavenly treasures that God gives us (Matthew 19:21, Luke 12:33). We must attain heavenly treasures discussed above for the reason that they can never be taken away from us. This requires that we set our hearts on attaining the real treasures that God gives us instead of worldly wealth that can be obtained easily but does not serve the purposes of God.
Moses looked forward to the reward God had reserved for him, which provided the impetus he needed to disregard the treasures of Egypt and wholeheartedly embrace the reproach of Christ or suffering disgrace for the sake of Christ as the greater treasure. – Heb 11:26
Key Five
The fifth key is an extension of the fourth as it elucidates how one can only attain heavenly treasures by keeping our eyes free of the love of money. No one can serve two masters. The eye is the lamp of the body. So long as our focus is solely and entirely on the Lord, our whole body will be full of light. But the moment our focus and attention shifts to earthly things, our eyes become bad and our whole body is filled with darkness. Paul reminds us to be heavenly minded. It is therefore imperative to keep our hearts free from the love of money (and the pleasures offered by it) because the Lord has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. – Heb 13:5-6 and Matthew 6:25-34.
The Lord God reassures us that we need not worry about anything but rest confidently in His ability to provide for all our needs. We must rest in Him at all times and be constantly led by His Spirit who comforts us in our trials and helps us with divine wisdom. Our Lord is very compassionate. He causes the hearts of kings to become favorable to us. When Daniel and his friends were exiled, God caused Ashpenaz, chief of king Nebuchadnezzar’s court officials, to show favor and sympathy to Daniel and his friends. – Daniel 1:9. The Lord can help us in many ways that we can never imagine but it is necessary that we fully trust in Him to provide for us. Goodness and mercy shall surely follow you all the days of your life. Amen.