Rewards

God is good. He is not going to do something that is not good because that would make Him bad. God is good. So we have to believe that there is a greater purpose for Judgement Day and judgment is good.

Last week we talked about how us as Christians do not get judgement for our sins because they were judged in Christ. So, what do we do on Judgment Day? Do we go off and swim in the river of life or do we try to eavesdrop while others are receiving judgment? No. We also get judged. Say what?! Right, what a shocker mate.

If our sins were judged in Jesus, what are we judged for? 2 Corinthians 5:8-10 says, “Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”

That is Paul speaking to Christians not the unsaved. I have heard it said many times that to be away from the body is to be present with the Lord. We love that verse as Christians, but sometimes we stop there and don’t read on to verse 10 which talks about judgment for our actions. Not sin. Our actions. What did we do with what God gave to us? It is akin to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. God has entrusted to each of us something that we can invest and use to grow and advance His Kingdom. We are not all equally gifted or gifted with the same things, but what are you doing with what’s in your hand?

Romans 8:8-13 says it like this, “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.”

Did the Bible just tell us to “work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically”. Seems like it. So… we are not to fold our hands and just wait for the rapture so we can enjoy the soft life in heaven? Apparently not. If that’s the case, then here’s my question; are you working hard and serving the Lord enthusiastically? We will all have to answer that one day.

1 Corinthians 3:9-15, says, “For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”

What is clear in the above is that this is not a matter of salvation or whether or not we go to heaven or hell. We are saved and we will be in heaven but we will lose everything. Honestly, I don’t know what it will be like to lose everything in heaven. I would rather lose everything on earth on my pursuit to serve Jesus with all I’ve got than to save what I have now, do the bare minimum and lose everything in heaven.

In the parable of the talents however, it had an even worse ending. God called the servant who did the bare minimum “evil”. Matthew 25:28-30 goes on to say, “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

In this case, the servant who did the bare minimum lost everything and was cast into outer darkness. Either way, we can see that God does not take lightly to people just getting by. Perhaps this is why Malachi 4:5 called Judgement Day the “great and dreadful day”. A lot of people are doing great by their own standard, but God does not measure us against what we think we should be doing. He measures us against His will for our lives and what we did with what He gave us.

Our judgment as Christians is so God can reward us for the good works we did to advance His Kingdom. God’s heart is always to bless us. However, we have to position ourselves to receive His blessing. God’s love for us will not trump His justice such that He rewards us for just showing up. There are no participation trophies in heaven. Look at the servant who received 1 talent. He participated. He had a talent and he did the bare minimum by burying it and keeping it safe. That did not get him a reward.

God rewards good stewardship and hard work. It took work to turn 5 talents into 10 and 2 talents into 4. God does not reward passivity. We need to be moving and building with Him. He is looking for those who will partner with what He wants done in the earth. Is that going to be you?

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.