30th Nov 2007
Seeking Kingdom Rewards
Oh Lord, You are beautiful
Your face is all I see
And when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to me
I want to take Your Word and shine it all around
But first help me just to live it, Lord
And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek the crown
For my reward is giving glory to You
I’ve always liked this song. We used to sing it at my church years ago, though we sing more traditional hymns these days. But I do have a problem with the last two lines there. Many people have the idea that it is wrong to seek rewards from Christ, that we should only serve Him out of love and that opportunity is reward enough in itself. There is nothing wrong with being motivated by His great love toward us, in fact we should be.
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But some have begun to teach that it is wrong for Christians to serve the Lord in humble expectation that He will reward His servants for their obedient service. They don’t deny that the Lord does reward his servants, but they think it seems a mercenary affair to be motivated by the desire to receive a crown or to reign with Christ. We must remember that we are even commanded to do just that.
Luke 6:22-23
22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
The hope of reward is something that the Bible tells us we must have if we would be found pleasing to God.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
There is a danger in downplaying the future reward. Paul tells us that we are in a race for a crown.
1 Corinthians 9:24-26
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
How effective would a runner in a race be if he did not desire the victory? If his opponents were single minded in their focus on the crown, and he just ran for the love of running? He may put forth a good show, for a time, but he is likely to tire of the effort before the end, especially when you consider that this is a race that continues until you die or the Lord comes back! Paul kept his eye on that crown, and at the end of his ministry he tells us that he knows there is a crown laid up for him, because he ran a good race.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
We should not imagine that it is enough just to enter the race. We must, like Paul, finish the course if we would have the crown. Please understand that salvation in eternity is a free gift, and you must be saved by believing on Christ before you can even begin to run the race. But there are things that God has in store for His children who will do His will that will doubtless be well worth the effort. Let us look forward to those rewards in earnest hope that He is willing to give them to us if we will trust Him and apply His grace in our lives to keep His commands and to live the lives that He has ordered for us to live.
Oh Lord, You are beautiful
Your face is all I see
And when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to meI want to take Your Word and shine it all around
But first help me just to live it, Lord
And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek the crown
For my reward is giving glory to You
I’ve always liked this song. We used to sing it at my church years ago, though we sing more traditional hymns these days. But I do have a problem with the last two lines there. Many people have the idea that it is wrong to seek rewards from Christ, that we should only serve Him out of love and that opportunity is reward enough in itself. There is nothing wrong with being motivated by His great love toward us, in fact we should be.
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But some have begun to teach that it is wrong for Christians to serve the Lord in humble expectation that He will reward His servants for their obedient service. They don’t deny that the Lord does reward his servants, but they think it seems a mercenary affair to be motivated by the desire to receive a crown or to reign with Christ. We must remember that we are even commanded to do just that.
Luke 6:22-23
22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Luke 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
The hope of reward is something that the Bible tells us we must have if we would be found pleasing to God.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
There is a danger in downplaying the future reward. Paul tells us that we are in a race for a crown.
1 Corinthians 9:24-26
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
How effective would a runner in a race be if he did not desire the victory? If his opponents were single minded in their focus on the crown, and he just ran for the love of running? He may put forth a good show, for a time, but he is likely to tire of the effort before the end, especially when you consider that this is a race that continues until you die or the Lord comes back! Paul kept his eye on that crown, and at the end of his ministry he tells us that he knows there is a crown laid up for him, because he ran a good race.
2 Timothy 4:7-8
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
We should not imagine that it is enough just to enter the race. We must, like Paul, finish the course if we would have the crown. Please understand that salvation in eternity is a free gift, and you must be saved by believing on Christ before you can even begin to run the race. But there are things that God has in store for His children who will do His will that will doubtless be well worth the effort. Let us look forward to those rewards in earnest hope that He is willing to give them to us if we will trust Him and apply His grace in our lives to keep His commands and to live the lives that He has ordered for us to live.
Posted by the Geek under 
Faith in Action 
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