Who God Rewards
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”
(Hebrews
11:6, NIV).
TODAY’S WORD
When God
is first place in your life, and you make pleasing Him your highest priority,
then you can fully expect to live a blessed, fulfilled life! In today’s verse,
notice who God rewards. It’s not people who half-heartedly seek Him. It doesn’t
say “people who only think about Him when they’re having a problem;” or “people
who will only come to church when something special is going on.” No, God
rewards people who earnestly seek after Him. That means we are determined. We
get up every morning and thank Him for His goodness. We go through the day
meditating on His promises. We give Him praise in the good times and the tough
times. We are constantly stretching, growing, learning and striving to know Him
better.
Today,
remember, when you diligently seek God, He promises that a reward is coming. He
promises He will give you strength, wisdom, favor, good breaks, promotion,
healing and restoration. When you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find
Him, and you won’t be able to outrun His goodness and blessing!
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, I
desire to please You in everything I do. I declare that You are good and
faithful. I trust You with my whole heart and believe that You are a rewarder
of those who diligently seek You. I bless You and honor You today in Jesus’
name. Amen.
***
“Each of us will have to give a personal account to God.” (Romans 14:12 NLT)
At the end of your life on Earth, you will stand before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life. The Bible says, “Each of us will have to give a personal account to God” (Romans 14:12 NLT).
Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.
At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: “I was too busy” or “I had my own goals” or “I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement.” To all excuses God will respond, “Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?”
The Bible warns unbelievers, “He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves,” but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards (Romans 2:8 NLT).
We are only fully alive when we’re helping others. Jesus said, “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live” (Mark 8:35 (LB); see also Matthew 10:39; 16:25; Luke 9:24; 17:33).
This truth is so important that it is repeated five times in the Gospels. If you aren’t serving, you’re just existing, because life is meant for ministry. God wants you to learn to love and serve others unselfishly.
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