two types of people
“O Lord, with your hand save me from such people, that is, from the people of this world, whose reward is in this life.” (Psalm 17:14).
There are two types of people in the world. There are people whose activities are designed to generate rewards in this lifetime. And there are those who live to receive their reward when they meet our Lord in heaven.
Not every Christian models the latter. How can one judge whether they are living for earthly rewards versus future rewards? There are several key indicators.
People who will give rewards in the future are givers. They make their time and resources available for state purposes. They realize that their sowing will ultimately be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ where everything they have done on earth will be judged and rewarded by God (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Those rewarded in the future live lives based on obedience-based decisions. They do not make decisions based on their anticipated outcome. They realize that a decision based only on obedience may not have immediate results. Jesus was obedient to the cross, but the immediate result was His death on the cross.
Future reward situations appear in many ways in daily life. Perhaps someone has wronged you and God asks you to forgive and even bless that person without expecting a response from them. Perhaps God asks you to sow wealth into a ministry or another person’s life without expecting anything in return.
Perhaps you are called to serve another person without expectation of any earthly reward. The situations we can face are limitless.
Are you living life based on future reward, or short-term reward? Today, evaluate how you make decisions and allocate resources. This will reveal whether you are a future award-winning Christian or not.
