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Reward

 

Eternal RewardOur eternal reward reflects the amount of God’s glory that we have allowed to shine through us. It is like a chandelier that has many light bulbs, some 25 watt, some 50 watt, and some 100 watt. The light bulbs as a whole all give and contribute light to the room. That’s the way it will be in heaven, but some of us will be contributing only 25 watts, other 50 and still others a full 100 watts. How much of God’s light do you want to shine through you?

 

Eternal RewardWe must not be troubled by unbelievers when they say that this promise of reward makes the Christian life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds of reward. There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it, and is quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany those things. Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man a mercenary if he married a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage is the proper reward for a real lover, and he is not mercenary for desiring it… The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.—C.S. Lewis

 

Eternal RewardHenry C. Morrison, after serving for forty years on the African mission field, headed home by boat. On that same boat also rode Theodore Roosevelt. Morrison was quite dejected when, on entering New York harbor, President Roosevelt received a great fanfare as he arrived home. Morrison thought he should get some recognition for forty years in the Lord’s service.

        The a small voice came to Morrison and said, “Henry-you’re not home yet.”

 

Loss of RewardsIn the 1980 Boston Marathon, a young unknown runner named Rosie Ruiz was initially declared the winner in the women’s division of the 26-mile race. An investigation followed and it was discovered that this was only the second marathon in which she had ever run, she had no coach, she trained on an exercise cycle (others did 120 miles of road work per week), and she had not been seen by any of the other women runners in the race. It was speculated that she probably rode a subway for 16 miles to get near the finish line. Rosie was disqualified and lost the reward-not just the prize for finishing first, but the more lasting satisfaction of attaining a difficult goal.