Great Reward

(Hebrews 10:35) “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.”

Let’s face it, who in their right mind does not enjoy receiving a reward? Life is all about rewards and a treat is away comforting when we have accomplish something important. Many work throughout the year and take a holiday at the end of it. My mother rewarded me with a car when I passed matric. However there was a condition attached, pass matric and you can have the Ford. Although I was a student motivated by sport and not education per say, the practicality of my mid-year results had left me well on my way to failure. I was going to fail if I didn’t do something about it. As an unsaved youth my head was all over the place and it was locked into partying and sport. I obviously realized to some degree the severity of my predicament, but I didn’t really take it that seriously and nothing really change until my mother said, “pass matric and you can have the Ford Escort”. It was now game on; there was a reward on the table worth pursuing. To the surprise of many, I ended up with the car keys in my hand. That and my father believing in me when everyone else had written me off as a candidate for failure is all it took to motivate me to get serious.

We must all arrive at a place in our own understanding on whatever we decide is worth fighting for. The Lord Jesus fought to keep sin at bay and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, His obedience has been rewarded. Let us never underestimate the importance of the reward. It feeds our hope! One day we shall see Him as He is and we shall be like Him, sensational! This will be our ultimate reward; the Christian will eventually receive that eternal gift. However, it’s the rewards we receive along the way that I wish to deliberate and hopefully motivate other to do the same.

Hopefully you’ve lived enough to understand sins destruction, and if not you will eventually see it for what it is; deceitful lies about promises that are filled with disappointment. On the other hand the rewards of God when realized are full of nourishment that satisfies the soul. God does reward those who diligently seek Him, praise His name, Amen and Amen!

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) - How are those who diligently seek Him rewarded?

“He must believe that God is, and that he is what he is, what he has revealed himself to be in the scripture, a Being of infinite perfections, subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Observe, the practical belief of the existence of God, as revealed in the word, would be a powerful awe - band upon our souls, a bridle of restraint to keep us from sin, and a spur of constraint to put us upon all manner of gospel obedience. (2.) That he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. Here observe, [1.] By the fall we have lost God; we have lost the divine light, life, love, likeness, and communion. [2.] God is again to be found of us through Christ, the second Adam. [3.] God has prescribed means and ways wherein he may be found; to with, a strict attention to his oracles, attendance on his ordinances, and ministers duly discharging their office and associating with his people, observing his providential guidance, and in all things humbly waiting his gracious presence. [4.] Those who would find God in these ways of his must seek him diligently; they must seek early, earnestly, and perseveringly. Then shall they seek him, and find him, if they seek him with all their heart; and when once they have found him, as their reconciled God, they will never repent the pains they have spent in seeking after him.” (Matthew Henry)

Simply put, we are to embrace all of God’s commands for our lives understanding that He will reward us for our obedience. Not that we will get great wealth and the like, that is the misinterpreted false gospel that some propagate. With “food and raiment” we must find contentment; “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” (1Timothy 6:8) - Nevertheless we will be rewarded with the “fruits of the Spirit”, God will reward us with these wonderful fruits if and when we seek out His will for our lives, and of this I am persuaded.

Life may throw many curve balls at us but it will all work together for our good so long as we have the will of God in our crosshairs. Keep focused with that as our priority, just one day at a time and it will be well with our souls. What are these rewards that God attracts us with? They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. To experience these rewards we must seek out grace driven tractability to crucify the lusts of our flesh. God help us in our resolve to be about His will and not our selfish wants.

In conclusion, we must not be fooled into believing that worldliness will bring about relief for our lives, it is filled with an empty promise of disappointment; “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12) – If we have been miraculously saved by the grace of God we will eventually learn to cherish this verse and change the way we begin to live and God will reward those who diligently seek Him! Through the toughest of trials we can have the joy of the Lord causing us to praise our God and give hope to others who cannot see the wood from the trees.

Signing off

Tyrone