There are several frequently asked questions by some Christians that are asked today: "Why should I preach the gospel? Why should I receive others? Why should I give generously? "
This type of Christian live in the same way as they used to before conversion. There are also some believers who have enthusiastic love for the Lord, devoting to the ministry, doing daily devotionals and loving brothers and sisters... The reason for their deeds is to please God is to gain rewards.
Then is it right to work and serve hard to just to get rewards?
Rev. Elijah from a house church of Shanghai states, "We strive for more rewards. God will definitely reward you when you do a good job. But it's your result from God's tests rather than your goal. "
What is God's reward? We know from the Bible that rewards can be divided into several different types: praise that comes from God, the promise of victory and the eternal inheritance.
Christ loved the world so much that he was crucified on the cross for humans to be saved and we can enter into the kingdom of heaven through his blood. However, "We forget the fact that his crucifixion and blood shedding gave us eternal life once we do something. We eventually want to receive rewards for whatever we do. It seems that God should do everything and God must reward us for what we do. "
The Bible mentions that Paul also wanted to win a prize: "... But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)" The apostle strove for "Christ" and also "the prize".
He shares, be cautious that we should not only focus on prizes, because we may end up losing Christ. We must believe in Christ in the first place in order to "gain Christ"and secondly, to "receive rewards".
The pastor explains, "When we do well (in service or ministries), God's reward is given to us as a result, but it is not our (whole) focus and goal. It's not true that (God grants us rewards) when we do this thing up to a standard. That it should be done like this. It doesn't matter whether God is willing to reward us or not. "
"Children are going too far when they are disrespectful, arguing about trifles with their parents. But parents keep no account of what they do to or for them for a lifetime." He also shows that this resembles our relationship with God. We take for granted anything God does for us, while we expect something in return for little things we do. "We need to believe that God is God, who was crucified for us and gave us eternal life. Based on that, we should find it embarrasing to ask for rewards. "
He adds that we should respond to God's grace through our work. When we work hard as a response to His love, He gives us rewards which are His love and mercy and we need to feel grateful for this.
Rev. Elijah concludes that God is always with us whenever we encounteer various kinds of questions. "Nothing cannot be solved when God is with us. Don't attach too much importance to difficulties in our life."
Translated by Karen Luo
