In this world, it is hard to see truth. It is hard to see what we should desire to achieve and the methods by which we go to achieve it. In the eyes of worldly morals, you can get a blurred distinction of truth. One thing that is looked down upon is flattery of your boss to get a promotion. There are slang terms for this, and I bet you’re thinking it now, but lets just say it isn’t a pleasant compliment. However in true terms, the ultimate authority(GOD) is someone we’re supposed to seek praise from. We’re not to be limited to only think of God as someone who will bless us if we do well. We’re supposed to have many thoughts about God. But people of both strong and weak faith can be driven by seeking honors from God. The truth is that we’re supposed to follow what God commands us and he may find us pleasing and reward us. The honor of being blessed by God is more important to some than the actual reward God gives.
I don’t know about you, but in my own life I need to either be improving myself every day or I’m feeling low. I now see life as a chess match where playing to one’s advantage each day will leave you in a better position in the next day. To play chess randomly will not typically be a fruitful endeavor as living life without planning and thinking can lead you into ruin as well. The great thing about knowing God is that he promises that things will get better. Throughout the Bible when terrible things happen because people turn from God, there is normally some hope for them if they turn back to God. No more so than in the Gospels of Jesus Christ. No matter how bad of a past someone has, if they turn to Jesus and repent of sinning in the future, they can become a child of God and eventually see Heaven when they die. And people who are children of God and destined to Heaven can even get more blessings heaped upon themselves through pleasing God. This means no matter who you are or what life situation you are in, life *WILL* become better for you if you honor Jesus. If you don’t know Jesus as your LORD and savior, you should tell God(he’s listening) that you accept him as your savior. Read the Bible especially the New Testament to learn more about him. If you do know Jesus and his teachings, you can read on for ideas on how to be given rewards from God.
Again, it is important to know who God is and have a good relation with him before you start looking to him as a divine giver. God is generous. He’ll give us more than we need in this life and the next. Humans have an unending desire for more things though. Proverbs 27:20 “Human desires are like the world of the dead- there is always room for more” If you put the two together, you’ll see that God could give humans everything they wanted from now to eternity, and the humans would always be in a state of want. Many wise people of many different cultures have said that it is important to be satisfied with what you have than always be striving to get more. Even just looking at American society, we see there is a phenomena known as”Keeping up with the Joneses” where if your neighbor has something that you feel compelled to work your tail off to get the fancy toy yourself. I think it is a nice thought to have a state of satisfaction where you feel happy for what you have. As long as we have food to eat, we should be thanking the LORD. Being able to stay alive is a state of satisfaction. But we’re to love our neighbor as we love ourself, and our neighbor is starving to death. How can we be satisfied with life when poverty is killing so many in the world? I don’t think I can. You have to start weighing your values. On one hand, it is peaceful to be satisfied with what you have. On the other hand, we’re supposed to help and serve others in the world who can’t help themselves.
Some people who are not Christian have the idea in life to eat, drink and be happy for tomorrow we die. Some people want to maximize their life on Earth as to seek out worldly pleasures and have a great time in order that they don’t look bad in sadness when they’re old and think of what they could have missed out on. These lifestyles actually make a whole lot of sense if God was not present. Fortunately for those of us who are Christian, we know there will be a long and awesome afterlife. There is nothing we can experience on Earth that won’t be better in the New Earth or New Heaven. So the reasoning one who has enough faith to accept this turns to,”How can I maximize my rewards in Heaven? What should I be doing on Earth that has eternal consequences?” It takes faith to change into this reasoning because you are losing the immediate pursuit of pleasure for a delayed gratification reward. If you do not believe in God, you have no desire to give up your immediate pursuit of pleasure for a delayed reward. Because of this, it takes faith. The change comes over the man who is marked with faith because instead of seeking a maximum amount of happiness on Earth, he seeks to do God’s will to the maximum as to see his happiness in Heaven. Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rush destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are.”
If you can overcome the hurdle of faith that changes your philosophy from,”Pursuit of Earthly pleasures” to “Pursuit of Heavenly rewards.”, the next thing you need to know is,”What do I need to start doing.” Mark 9:35 ‘Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them,”Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” It is such a great cost for many that some don’t want to have any part in it. Jesus told the rich man that he had to give all his money to the poor and the rich man went away sad. There is a huge difference between seeking happiness in this life and being everyone’s servant. Many people have the faith in God to accept Jesus as savior, but not enough faith for self sacrifice. I’m not going to criticize them. I’m just saying to seek out reward in Heaven, you need to put effort out without the hope for immediate gain.
What are some ways we can serve? Isaiah 58:6-9 “The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.” “Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side. When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond.” The importance of this makes a lot of sense because people should have enough to live on. People need food, water, shelter, and clothing. If someone doesn’t have enough to survive, those with more should provide. We’re all to be worshiping God! We can also serve by letting people know that Jesus is LORD who have never heard of Jesus. Also we can work as a doctor helping people overcome illness. All levels of assisting doctors works too because you can also be a nurse or a guy who researches diseases, or you can be a guy who donates money to a hospital.
Here is a list of blessings and rewards spoken about in the Bible so they should be good for us to pray for as well:
Having descendants
Having a famous and reputable name
Having land
Having food and water
Having health
Having the ability to succeed in your plans
Having wealth
Having rain
Having wisdom
Protection from pain.
Job had beautiful daughters because God was pleased with Job
Having peace in the land
Having a long life
Heavenly blessings: We have no idea of knowing what may be in store for us in Heaven, but God can prepare rewards for you in Heaven that you won’t see until later. There is no need to get anxious about seeing what the surprises are. Instead, seek to get as many rewards as possible while you still can on Earth.
Finally here are some scripture verses on rewards:
Proverbs 12:14 “Your reward depends on what you say and what you do; you will get what you deserve.”
Proverbs 16:31 “Long life is the reward of the righteous; gray hair is a glorious crown.”
Proverbs 24:12 “You may say that it is none of your business, but God knows and judges your motives. He keeps watch on you; he knows. And he will reward you according to what you do.”
Proverbs 25:21-22 “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them a drink.” “You will make them burn with shame and the LORD will reward you.”
Jeremiah 32:19 “You make wise plans and do mighty things; you see everything that people do, and you reward them according to their actions.”
Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said,’Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on the bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! You must be perfect-just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Matthew 6:1 -4″Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do it so that people will praise them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. But when you help a needy person, do it in such a way that even your closest friend will not know about it. Then it will be a private matter. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.”
Indeed God watches us to see if we do good. So we should be doing good as a form of worship of God. God is good. God is love!
Matthew 6:6 “But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18 “And when you fast, do not put on a sad face as the hypocrites do. They neglect their appearance so that everyone will see that they are fasting. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you go without food, wash your face and comb your hair, so that others cannot know that you are fasting—only your Father, who is unseen, will know. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you. ”
Matthew 10:41-42 “Whoever welcomes God’s messenger because he is God’s messenger, will share in his reward. And whoever welcomes a good man because he is good, will share in his reward. You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward.”
Luke 6:22-23 “Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets. ”
Luke 6:34-35 And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount! No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked
1 Corinthians 3:8 There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build. For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid. Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw. And the quality of each person’s work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone’s work; the fire will test it and show its real quality. If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.
Ephesians 6:8 Remember that the LORD will reward each of us, whether slave or free, for the good work we do.
Hebrews 10:35 “Do not lose your courage, then, because it brings with it a great reward”
Hebrews 11:24-26 It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king’s daughter. He preferred to suffer with God’s people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while. He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward.
James 1:12 “Happy are those who remain faithful under trials, because when they succeed in passing such a test, they will receive as their reward the life which God has promised to those who love him.”
So, do not listen to people of this world who tell you how to live. Live for eternal rewards. Live to give honor to Christ. Live to worship God. God is love. God is good. Try and be love and good yourself in your daily life. If you do all these things, you’ll likely get rewarded more than you can imagine! God is bigger than our imagination. That is a great thing about God. God can do anything. And God can do anything for you. We can see the creator’s goodness in this world sometimes, but eventually we’ll see him face to face. Don’t you want him to smile and say,”Finally! I get to see you face to face!” Make the experience of God getting to know you as pleasurable as your experience of getting to know him. I think the honor of getting rewards from God is much more valuable than the rewards themselves. Thanks be to God that he is generous. Life isn’t fair, but God sees every time we’re cheated. You know he wants to make it all up to us. I don’t think we’re to keep score in our mind, but we can’t let bad things keep us down. We need to be keep working for others with the love of Christ active in our minds.
-Jim Sager