I am still of the age that I need to work. It is a bummer, but I am grateful to have work and God blesses me tremendously. I am ‘rewarded’ well for my efforts.
In life, I want other rewards too sometimes. I have the mentality that when I do something good, I should be rewarded. The ‘karma’ thing. Do good – good comes back, do bad – and, you know. I have come to realize that this does not always work this way. Sometimes you just have to reconcile to do good because it is the right thing to do, God has commanded us to, and this is really the people we want to be. The good thing is its own reward. God promises to reward us though – “he who sows righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) shall have a sure reward [permanent and satisfying].” (Proverbs 11.18)
Sometime I wonder what my ‘reward’ will be at the end of life? I know I will be in heaven with Jesus and those I love. Will I have a mansion in Glory? Will the good deeds I did on Earth be noticed and the times I fell short not diminish the end result of a life lived? Jesus promises rewards – “for the Son of Man is going to come in the glory (majesty, splendor) of His Father with His angels, and then He will render account and reward every man in accordance with what he has done.” (Matthew 16.27)
When I arrive in heaven, I want God to say, ‘Welcome, good and faithful servant.’ I have the image of casting my crown at the feet of Jesus – Who washed the feet of His disciples to demonstrate how we should treat others. I have a vision of walking streets of gold and never crying again, never feeling sad or lonely, never having another worry. I have hope of seeing everyone I have loved and even seeing the animals God gave me to love here. After all, He placed more animals on the Ark than people, so their Creator is my Creator and I know He loves the animals too.
But the most important and precious Reward I have ever received in my life is God, Himself. God told Abraham He would be his Great Reward – “after these things the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy Shield, and thy exceeding great Reward.” (Genesis 15.1)
I used to be upset about this. I wanted a family and financial success and ‘other things, ‘ just more ‘things.’ Now, I humbly tell God with a grateful heart how much I love Him and am so happy He pursued me and saved me and has walked with me all these years of life and never let me down. How could I have ever thought anything on this Earth could be more valuable to me than God?
He is my Great Reward and it has been the best Reward I could have ever imagined. Being a child of the Living God – I almost can’t believe it because it is so great.
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