Smelling Gas

Wow!  Did that title pique your interest or what?  Be honest!  But it's no what you think.

Last summer my daughter-in-law called me late in the evening.  It seems that she thought she could smell natural gas fumes in her house.  Natural gas, in its 'natural' state, is odorless so the gas company puts a scent in it so that in the event of a gas leak, someone will know and avoid either being overcome by the fumes or blowing their house sky-high.  I went over and couldn't smell anything.  She called the gas company anyway - they came over and couldn't detect anything either.  False alarm.

The problem is that sometimes natural gas is hard to detect, even with the odor.  You think you smell it once but then it's like your nose can't detect it anymore.  You almost need to leave the area, let your nose refresh, and come back.  What's the purpose of this story?

The Bible is pretty clear that when we do good deeds we ought to do them for the right reasons, the love of Christ, to help someone in need, etc.  Deeds done for show, for selfish purposes, and other such reasons will not be recognized.  There are days when I am not sure about the motivation for my good deeds.  I hope that they are being done for the right reasons but I honestly don't know.  The more I think about this the more confused I get.  It's just like trying to smell natural gas.  You thought you caught a whiff of it but now that you are trying to confirm it, you can't! This is when I find 1 John 3:20 to be so comforting.  "For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything."

Praise God that He knows my heart.  When I really don't know my true motivation, He does!

Lord, purify my heart so that everything I do is out of love and devotion for You.  Calm my spirit during those times when I stress out about this and can't tell what my motivation is.