The Bible says everything we do on this earth will one day be tried by fire. Deeds done for Jesus’ glory and the kingdom’s benefit are likened to gold, silver, and precious stones, and we will be rewarded for those works. All else will be burned up like wood, hay, and straw.

So where does caregiving fit in?

I often wonder how much of what I do on a daily basis is just providing fodder for the flame. The humdrum, mundane tasks surely can’t be important to God. Like bathing.

When my 96-year-old mother-in-law moved in with us, it soon became apparent she needed help with some of her basic needs. I finally talked her into letting me bathe her. Once we got past the embarrassment (which didn’t take long), she would sigh contentedly as I gave her a full shower, complete with shampoo, and a rubdown with lotion afterward.

“That feels so good,” she’d say every time. “You’re earning a jewel for your heavenly crown.”

At first, I balked. That wasn’t why I was doing it. Plus, giving her a bath wasn’t anything earth shattering that Jesus would take notice of. She apparently saw it in a different light.

Another activity I think of as wood, hay, and straw, is watching TV. I can make a thousand excuses why sitting down to watch a show is important (to me, anyway), but in the end it’s not exactly kingdom work.

Unless.

Unless we sit down with our loved ones to bring them joy. After my mother-in-law went on hospice following a major heart attack, my friend Andi came to sit with her one day so my husband and I could take a couple of hours away. They watched old Westerns, and the two talked and talked about their favorite Western stars. My mother-in-law told me later how much it thrilled her to have someone enjoy those old shows with her.

Later, I often sat and read devotions to her from a book written by an actress on Little House on the Prairie, one of her favorite series. As she worsened, I fed her, cleaned her, and turned her. Not works of great consequence but important to her mental and physical comfort and well-being.

Though we aren’t looking for a reward, not even the smallest acts of service we perform for our loved ones go unnoticed by Jesus, the God-man who washed His own disciples’ feet. While much of what we do may still be wood, hay, and straw, the least things we do for our loved ones are pure gold.

Shine on, dear caregivers, shine on.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Matthew 25:40 NIV

Tracy Crump dispenses hope in her award-winning book, Health, Healing, and Wholeness: Devotions of Hope in the Midst of Illness (CrossLink Publishing, 2021). A former intensive care nurse, she cared for her parents and her mother-in-law and understands both the burdens and joys of caregiving. Her devotions have been featured in Guideposts books, The Upper Room, and many other publications, and she has contributed 25 stories to Chicken Soup for the Soul® books. She also conducts writing workshops, produces a newsletter for writers, and does freelance editing. But her most important job is Grandma to five completely unspoiled grandchildren.