Success is its own reward.
So we are told. If we work hard and achieve something of note, others don’t need to pat us on the back. The knowledge of our achievement is all we need.
It’s our private vindication for the hours we’ve put in.
If we fail, that’s part of the process. We get back up, brush off the hecklers, and jump back into the fray.
God says our true reward comes when we’re doing well, and we suffer for it anyway. People chide us. Our health takes a hit. Our finances tumble further down than we like, and we continue on our road to what’s important.
Take college. You’re divorced with three kids, and your way to better your future is night classes. You give up sleep, get your parents to watch the children, and you are tired constantly.
What’s your reward? Classes successfully completed and the prospect of living better in years to come.
It’s the same with our work for Christ. It’s a good thing, yet we often receive abuse from those who choose not to follow him.
That doesn’t negate the good we do, and it pleases God to see us dedicated to his cause.
1 Peter 2:20 says:
“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
If our success is easy, that’s nothing to crow about. God’s pleasure comes when we give up our safety and security to do great things for him.
God tallies every good deed we perform, and our reward will come in his good time.
Copyright © 2020 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.G.28.19b.vp.esv