"A Blessing"

A friend at work relayed the following story:

She was keeping her grandsons, approximately five and seven.  Her father had come to her house to help her prepare for some adventure with the boys and apparently he had done a great deal of work for them.

It is her habit to engage the boys in chores while they are with her and for doing the chores, they are compensated  with a preset number of quarters.  At some point while with her, she told them, "We are going over to Granddaddy's to bless him."  At his house they did chores, which included picking up the yard.  When they were finished the youngest asked if they were going to get "their quarters."

"No," my friend answered, "we came over here to be a blessing to Granddaddy and we don't get quarters for being a blessing."  She continued, "Remember when Granddaddy came to our house and helped us?  He was being a blessing to us.  We didn't pay him for it.  Now it is our turn to be a blessing to him in return."

My friend is one who has lived a life of being "a blessing."   She is a pleasure to work with and always seems to be volunteering her time to "be a blessing" to others.

There are those, like my friend, who do the right things for the right reasons.  There are others who seemingly do the right things, but their motive is flawed.  Perhaps like the youngest grandchild, they are seeking some compensation for their "blessing."  They are looking to be rewarded, or to be given attention, praise or reputation.

It is important that we ask the Lord to "cleanse Thou me from secret faults," (Psalm 19:12.)  Our motive must always be the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of His purpose and way.  Nothing else.  Because after all, "we don't get quarters for being a blessing."