As I have been meditating on this whole business of heavenly rewards, this is what the Holy Spirit has whispered in my heart. When it’s all said and done, when the judgments have been rendered and the rewards have been given, we will all be overwhelmed by the sheer kindness of God.
Overwhelmed by the sheer kindness of God. I’d like to get me some of that too.
So when we get to heaven, we’ll have everything we could want or need; streets of gold and all that. That being the case, what is this reward thing all about? What will it be like?
I’m not sure. The Revelation of John talks about crowns which may be symbolic of public recognition, but again, I’m not really sure what the exact nature of the rewards will be like. But while I do not have much information on the nature of the gift, I do have a great deal of information on the nature of the Giver. His genius is both perfect and infinite. So whatever it actually is, if He wants to give it to me, I want it. Badly.
And if I am reading the gospels correctly, Jesus wants me to be motivated in my everyday life by the coming reward. I guess it’s going to be kind of like Christmas. There will be presents, but no one knows for sure what they’ll get. Sometimes we get stuff that we don’t really want or need, but the rewards will never be like that. Perfect wisdom and infinite love. He has something for us. I gotta get me some of that.
I thought I had it all figured out. Put everything in a mutual fund that mirrors the Standard and Poor’s 500. And just leave it there. Historically that will outperform the interest you can get from CD’s or bonds. And it will probably outperform any portfolio of stocks that you pick for yourself or have a broker pick for you.
This may still be good investment advice for a younger person. For someone my age, well, let’s just say I wish that I had moved it all into an interest bearing account right before the market tanked. It might also have been a good move to use all of my retirement money to buy gold if I had done it before the market tanked. The problem with gold, of course, is where are you going to store it? Somebody could steal it.
That being said, my other account is doing great! All it does is get bigger and bigger, no matter what the economy does. And nobody can steal it. Bernie Madoff can’t con me out of it. That is because I have set aside “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” (Matt. 6:20 NASB)
Every single penny that has gone into the offering plate is growing at interest. God remembers every dime. And He has promised to reward me.
I can tell you how to double your income without increasing the number of hours you work each week. Using my proven system you can actually get paid twice for the hours you work. Not only that, 100% of your “second salary” will to into a unique financial instrument, 100% tax free! Not only that, it will be 100% tax free when you eventually draw on the account! And believe it or not, God doesn’t expect you to tithe on the second income! Imagine where you will be ten years from today if you literally double your income and save half of it tax free? And you can have my proven system for only four easy payments of $49.95! But wait! If you call in the next six minutes, we will make one of the payments for you! That’s right! You can have my proven system for only three easy payments of $49.95! That’s a savings of $49.95 off the regular price. And we’ll even include free shipping! Simply call the toll free number below!
But … what if I really had such a system? And what if I was willing to give it to your for free? Right here. Right now. Would you be interested in that deal?
My system is very simple. Pray this prayer at the beginning of your work day.
“Father, I have to go to work now. Please help me to be mindful of You throughout the day. Please help me to rely on You and to receive from You strength and wisdom to do my work. Please help me to do my work unto You, as an act of worship. Please help me to be consciously motivated by the reward I will receive in the life to come. Please make me an instrument through whom You can love and bless others this day. May the light of my testimony be used in bringing my co-workers to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Amen.“
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” (Col. 3:23, 24 NASB)
My system even works for work you do for which you receive no actual pay, like cleaning the bathroom. But you’ll probably need to copy the prayer and actually pray it at the beginning of each work day until it the whole thing becomes real to you.
Of course, if anyone would like to go ahead and send in those three easy payments of $49.95, I will go ahead and make the fourth payment for you. Honest!
Every time you read this blog you are earning a reward. A record is made of the time you spent reading. An account is being kept. In some sort of account a balance is growing. The day is coming when you will receive your rewards.
All of this became clear to me when I was reading the Sermon on the Mount recently. The Holy Spirit pointed something out to me that I had never noticed before. I had always gotten the part about praying in private and not making a big public display of it. But I don’t think the fact that God will reward us from praying ever really registered with me. (Matt. 6:6)
Every time you read the Bible, pray, go to church, or read Christian teachings (such as this blog) you are doing something that has eternal consequences. God will remember each and every time you do that which is right. And God will reward you.
More Than Enough Time
God is not overwhelmed by the details of your life. If the very hairs on your head are numbered, God certainly has the capacity to remember ever single good deed that you have ever done. We must not make the mistake of thinking that God’s memory of our life is anything like our own memory of what we have done.
How many minutes of my life have been spent in prayer? The first answer that comes to mind is “not enough.” The second answer is “I have no idea.” But the real answer is a specific figure, the exact number of minutes that I have spent in prayer. If I were to ask God for that number right now He could give it to me – instantly. He wouldn’t have to pause for a moment and do some math in His head. He knows the answer that the question down to the exact number of seconds.
So the question that comes to mind is this: is God going to specifically review with me each time I prayer or is He going to base it on the total minutes spent? How will this work exactly? While I obviously can’t give any kind of a definitive answer, I do know that Jesus assures us that something as simple as giving a disciple of cup of water will be rewarded. (Mark 9:41) That seems awfully specific to me. One thing I do know, there will be more than enough time to review my life in whatever detail God desires to us. There is no reason, from a time standpoint, why God couldn’t spend more time reviewing my life with me than it actually took me to live my earthly life.
The other thing I am sure of is this: our lives are much more important than most of us realize. Why? What’s the big deal? Maybe it’s something as simple as this:
In this life
For a creature born in sin
Living for God and
Resisting
The world
The flesh an
The devil
Requires heroic determination
And results in eternal glory
He knew that what he was doing was important. He realized that he was making history. And so he made a fateful decision: he would record his working life. So Richard Nixon had tape recorders installed in his office. In time, he would come to bitterly regret that decision.
In Jack Chick’s classic comic book tract, “This Was Your Life,” a sinner stands before God in judgment. Every time he tries to defend himself or to deny an accusation he is shown actual recordings of his life on a huge movie screen. Ultimately there is nothing he can say. The evidence is right there for all to see. It had been recorded.
You are an important historical figure. This must be so, because a recording is being made of your life. This may or may not be some sort of audio or visual recording, but the bottom line is that a very accurate record is being kept. God has a detailed record of every small act of kindness that you have ever done. He plans to reward you for the good that you do.
Please take a few moments and think back over the past few days. What have you done? What did you do that was pleasing to God. You may not even be able to remember, but God does and will remember. And He will reward you in the life to come for what you have done.
