It’s incredible to me that children will do anything for a
reward. It can be something as small as a candy for picking up their
things quickly. Other times it’s a quarter for “babysitting” while I take a
shower or while I make a phone call. A few times, as a reward for cleaning
their rooms properly, they have been able to have a friend over for the night. Occasionally,
when they have been extra helpful, the reward is a date alone with Mommy for
hot chocolate or ice cream. My son just finished potty training and the only
thing that motivated him to carry on was his giant sticker chart and consequent
prize box.
As adults, aren't we similar? The reward for finishing the mountain
of dishes is sitting down with a coffee for fifteen minutes. The reward for losing
twenty pounds (I wish!!) is a new pair of jeans. The reward for getting the
kids tucked into bed is an evening with my hubby, a movie or a good book. On
and on it goes. I’m sure you can think of rewards ranging from a covert
chocolate bar to a shiny, new vehicle. The fact is that rewards are motivating!
And the exciting part is that God instilled in us that
drive! As wonderful as goals achieved and rewards given are here on earth, the
reward that awaits us at the end of this life will make them pale by
comparison. This is promised in the Bible over and over again.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but
also to all who have loved his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet
appeared, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we
shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as
he is pure.
1 John 3:2-3
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Corinthians 5:1
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you.
Matthew 5:11-12
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I
do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press
on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14
Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each
one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.
Revelation 22:12-13
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed
before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this,
for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is
written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man
imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”
1 Corinthians 2:7-9
I don’t know about you, but when I read these passages, I am
overcome with joy and also challenged to press on at the knowledge of the
Savior, the greatest of all treasures, who awaits me at the end of this tricky
life.
Comments
... Well as long as it's not just God's big sticker chart.