Recognition is nice, but...

This past weekend, I came up to church late Saturday afternoon. I noticed that in my mailbox here there was a box with a plaque in it. The plaque recognized our church family for being in the top tier of churches in our gifts to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is a beautiful plaque and was accompanied by a nice letter recognizing the generosity of Ogletown.

Only moments after I had pulled the plaque out of the box, I looked out my window and saw something that wasn't as beautiful. What I saw were the 'remnants' of geese who frequent our front doors. They leave plenty of 'reminders' of their appreciation of our facility. But as I looked more closely, I did see something that surely was grace-filled in God's sight. One of the members had taken it upon himself to make sure the sidewalk was cleaned off, so that nobody stepped in a 'reminder.' He was spraying the sidewalk on a Saturday afternoon, in preparation of people coming to OBC.

Frankly, no pretty plaque was given to him. I would call his name, but would prefer God to reward him openly for what he did in secret. He didn't do it for recognition. He won't be listed in our newsletter as the "Top 5 Servants of OBC." So, I guess recognition is nice, but it surely isn't everything.

Thank you God, for servants who serve unrecognized (by us) for You. Make their reward in heaven great!