Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Reward

A little calendar I created has a list of people to pray for each day of the month as well as specific things to pray over my family. This isn't my complete or exhaustible list - these are just the things and people that I pray over consistently every month. Then I add the current needs and requests to that. Today I opened my calendar and saw what I had listed to pray over Olivia for today..."Understanding that following God's will requires sacrifice, and sometimes isn't rewarded tangibly." Today I added that it's not always rewarded quickly, either. The verse I put with that is Ps 103:17-18, which reads, "But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them." Last night I acted in obedience. This morning my first thought was, "I did ________ last night; I deserve __________ this morning!" I immediately caught myself. I deserve nothing! I obeyed. If I seek to reward myself for that obedience, then I have my reward in full and I have sacrificed any reward the Lord might have had in store for me. I also hinder myself from continuing to follow in that obedience. Why? Because my rewards to myself are temporal. They are fleeting and are not true rewards. They offer no sense of continued motivation. God's rewards, on the other hand, are eternal. When He rewards us, we long to remain in that obedience. Sometimes we have to continue in obedience for a period of time before we even begin to see the reward, but often that in and of itself can be a reward - knowing we're walking in obedience. I am challenged to obey because I've been told to obey. I'm challenged to not try to pat myself on the back for obedience, or collect on a reward of my own creation or choosing. I'm challenged instead to wait on the Lord and realize that I have the honor and privilege of being chosen to be His child. If I am never rewarded in any other way, that is enough!

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