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Reward
Eternal
Reward
Our eternal reward reflects the amount of God’s glory that we have
allowed to shine through us. It is like a chandelier that has many light bulbs
some 25 watt
some 50 watt
and some 100 watt. The light bulbs as a whole all
give and contribute light to the room. That’s the way it will be in heaven
but
some of us will be contributing only 25 watts
other 50 and still others a full
100 watts. How much of God’s light do you want to shine through you?
Eternal
Reward
We must not be troubled by unbelievers when they say that this promise of
reward makes the Christian life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds
of reward. There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things
you do to earn it
and is quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany
those things. Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a
man a mercenary if he married a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage
is the proper reward for a real lover
and he is not mercenary for desiring it…
The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are
given
but are the activity itself in consummation.—C.S. Lewis
Eternal
Reward
Henry C. Morrison
after serving for forty years on the African mission
field
headed home by boat. On that same boat also rode Theodore Roosevelt.
Morrison was quite dejected when
on entering
The a
small voice came to Morrison and said
“Henry-you’re not home yet.”
Loss of
Rewards
In the 1980 Boston Marathon
a young unknown runner named Rosie Ruiz was
initially declared the winner in the women’s division of the 26-mile race. An
investigation followed and it was discovered that this was only the second
marathon in which she had ever run
she had no coach
she trained on an
exercise cycle (others did 120 miles of road work per week)
and she had not
been seen by any of the other women runners in the race. It was speculated that
she probably rode a subway for 16 miles to get near the finish line. Rosie was
disqualified and lost the reward-not just the prize for finishing first
but
the more lasting satisfaction of attaining a difficult goal.
We are afraid that
heaven is a bribe
and that if we make it our goal we shall no longer be
disinterested. It is not so. Heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can
desire. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God
for only
the pure in heart want to. ── C.S.
Lewis
The Problem of Pain.
One morning I opened
the door to get the newspaper and was surprised to see a strange little dog
with our paper in his mouth. Delighted with this unexpected "delivery
service
" I fed him some treats. The following morning I was horrified to
see the same dog sitting in front of our door
wagging his tail
surrounded by
eight newspapers.
I spent the rest of
that morning returning the papers to their owners.── Marion Gilbert
Reader's Digest
February
1994
p. 12.
In his book The
Weight of Glory
C.S. Lewis notes how believers often underestimate the full
riches God has for His children.
"...If we
consider...the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels
it
would seem that our Lord finds our desires
not too strong
but too weak. We
are half-hearted creatures...like an ignorant child who wants to go on making
mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a
holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."── Swindoll
Improving Your Serve
In Touch
June 29
1993.
We are afraid that
Heaven is a bribe
and that if we make it our goal we shall no longer be
disinterested. It is not so. Heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can
desire. It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God
for only
he pure in heart want to. ── C.S.
Lewis
The Problem of Pain.
On December 16
1944
18 members of a reconnaisance platoon held off a battalion of crack German
storm troopers in the Belgian hamlet of Lanzerath. Few history books note that
their gallant stand gave Allied forces time to begin mounting the defense that
eventually won the famous Battle of the Bulge. One of the platoon members was
Will James
who after the war slipped into oblivion for nearly 4 decades.
During that time he underwent numerous painful surgeries as a result of his war
wounds. Not until 1981
through the efforts of U.S. House Speaker Thomas P.
O'Neill and columnist Jack Anderson
was he awarded
posthumously
the
Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism. ── Daily Bread
December 16
1991.
It is a most
lamentable thing to see how most people spend their time and their energy for
trifles
while God is cast aside. He who is all seems to them as nothing
and
that which is nothing seems to them as good as all. It is lamentable indeed
knowing that God has set mankind in such a race where heaven or hell is their
certain end
that they should sit down and loiter
or run after the childish
toys of the world
forgetting the prize they should run for.
Were it but possible
for one of us to see this business as the all-seeing God does
and see what
most men and women in the world are interested in and what they are doing every
day
it would be the saddest sight imaginable. Oh
how we should marvel at
their madness and lament their self-delusion! If God had never told them what
they were sent into the world to do
or what was before them in another world
then there would have been some excuse. But it is His sealed word
and they
profess to believe it. ── Richard
Baxter.
Do not be worn out
by the labors which you have undertaken for My sake
and do not let
tribulations ever cast you down. Instead
let My promise strengthen and comfort
you under every circumstance. I am well able to reward you above all measure
and degree. You shall not toil here long nor always be oppressed with griefs. A
time will come when all labor and trouble will cease. Labor faithfully in My
vineyard; I will be thy recompense. Life everlasting is worth all these
conflict
and greater than these. Are not all plentiful labors to be endured
for the sake of life eternal? Lift your face therefore to heaven; behold I and
all My saints with me--who in this world had great conflicts--are now
comforted
now rejoicing
now secure
now at rest
and shall remain with Me
everlastingly in the kingdom of My father. ── Thomas a
Kempis.
A world-class woman
runner was invited to compete in a road race in Connecticut. On the morning of
the race
she drove from New York City
following the directions -- or so she
thought -- given her over the telephone. She got lost
stopped at a gas
station
and asked for help. She knew that the race started in the parking lot
of a shopping mall. The station attendant also knew of such a race scheduled
just up the road and directed her there.
When she arrived she
was relieved to see in the parking lot a modest number of runners preparing to
compete. Not as many as she'd anticipated; an easier race than she'd been led
to expect. She hurried to the registration desk
announced herself
and was
surprised by the race officials' excitement at having so renowned an athlete
show up for their race. No
they had no record of her entry
but if she'd hurry
and put on this number
she could just make it before the gun goes off. She ran
and
naturally
she won easily
some four minutes ahead of the first male
runner in second place.
Only after the
race--when there was no envelope containing her sizable prize and performance
money-- did she confirm that the event she'd run was not the race to which
she'd been invited. That race was being held several miles farther up the road
in another town. She'd gone to the wrong starting line
run the wrong course
and missed her chance to win a valuable prize. ── D. Bruce
Lockerbie
Thinking and Acting Like A Christian
p. 52.
At the Sudan
Interior Mission Kijabe Medical Center
SIM medical missionaries Bob and Marion
Bowers recently treated a young man with a paralyzing snake bite and saw him
live long enough to accept Christ as his Savior. In many Third World countries
snake bites are common--and fatal. For four days
the young man remained
unconscious. Under normal circumstances he would have died the day of the snake
bite. But on the fifth day he miraculously woke up. That afternoon a group of
students from Moffat Bible College came to the hospital to share the gospel
with the patients. After hearing the words of truth
the man accepted Christ as
his savior. At midnight
he had cardiac arrest and died. ── Harvest
Summer
1991
Vol. 1.
After a preacher
died and went to heaven
he noticed that a New York cabdriver had been given a
higher place than he had. "I don't understand
" he complained to St.
Peter. "I devoted my entire life to my congregation."
"Our policy is
to reward results
" explained St. Peter. "Now what happened
Reverend
whenever you gave a sermon?"
The minister
admitted that some in the congregation fell asleep.
"Exactly
" said St. Peter. "And when people rode in this man's taxi
they not
only stayed awake
they prayed." ── Ray
Heit
Reader's Digest.
When I stand at the
judgment seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan
for me;
The plan of my life as it
might have been
Had He had His way
and I
see
How I blocked Him here and
I checked Him there
And I would not yield my
will
Shall I see grief in my
Savior's eyes;
Grief though He loves me
still?
Oh
He'd have me rich
and
I stand there poor
Stripped of all but His
grace
While my memory runs like
a hunted thing
Down the paths I can't
retrace.
Then my desolate heart
will well-nigh break
With tears that I cannot
shed.
I'll cover my face with my
empty hands
And bow my uncrowned head.
No. Lord of the years that
are left to me
I yield them to Thy hand.
Take me
make me
mold me
To the pattern Thou hast
planned.
── Source
Unknown.
One of the most
grueling of all bicycle races is the Tour De France. A contestant in that
event
Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
describes it in a National Geographic article
titled
"An Annual Madness." The race covers about 2000 miles
including some of France's most difficult
mountainous terrain. Eating and
drinking is done on the run. And there are extremes of heat and cold. To train
for the event
Lassalle rides his bicycle 22
000 miles a year. What kind of
prize makes people endure so much hardship and pain! $10
000? $100
000? No.
It's just a special winner's jersey. What then motivates the contestants?
Lassalle sums it up: "Why
to sweep through the Arc de Triomphe on the
last day. To be able to say you finished the Tour de France." ── Daily Bread
October 5
1990.
We must not be
troubled by unbelievers when they say that this promise of rewards makes the
Christian's life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds of reward. There
is the reward which has no natural connection with things you do to earn it
and is quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany those things. Money
is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man mercenary if he
marries a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage is the proper reward
for a real lover
and he is not mercenary for desiring it.── C.S. Lewis
quoted in Liberating Ministry
From The Success Syndrome
K. Hughes
Tyndale
1988
p. 158.
Earth for work
heaven for
wages
This life for the battle
another for the crown
Time for employment
eternity for enjoyment.
── Thomas
Guthrie.
They that deny
themselves for Christ shall enjoy themselves in Christ. ── J.M. Mason.
One day in heaven
will pay you
yea
overpay your blood
bonds
sorrow
and sufferings; it would
trouble an angel's understanding to lay the account of that surplus of glory
which eternity can and will give you. ── Samuel
Rutherford.
If we consider the
greatness and the glory of the life we shall have when we have risen from the
dead
it would not be difficult at all for us to bear the concerns of this
world. If I believe the Word
I shall on the Last Day
after the sentence has
been pronounced
not only gladly have suffered ordinary temptations
insults
and imprisonment
but I shall also say: "O
that I did not throw myself
under the feet of all the godless for the sake of the great glory which I now
see revealed and which has come to me through the merit of Christ!" ── Martin Luther.
The Scriptures teach
that the happiness or blessedness of believers in a future life will be greater
or less in proportion to the service of Christ in this life. Those who love
little
do little; and those who do little
enjoy less. ── Charles Hodge.