177. Reward
Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Jesus promises to bring His reward with Him when comes again the second time at the end of the world. He will come quickly. He will give His reward to everyone according to his or her work. The life we life in faith in Christ will have a reward. These are rewards of grace: grace means Jesus has earned the reward, but He graciously gives the reward He has earned to His believers. These are not rewards for the works that we have done but for the works that Christ has done in us. I must face the fact that I cannot by my own effort by myself do anything worth a reward. My sin prevents me from doing a truly good work acceptable to God, for sin and self will always taint it.
However, when the blood of Christ cleanses me and His Holy Spirit comes to dwell in me Christ Himself is able to do truly good works in me and through me. These works that He does always has a reward attached; these rewards are being saved up and will be distributed at the Judgment. Almost all these rewards will surprise me for I do not even know I did a work. “Lord, when did we see thee…?” It is enough to know that God is doing a work in me and some of these good works come out of me and affect others. Any time the Lord uses me to do or say a truly good thing in faith I can be assured that each work has a reward.
Not only do I not know the works, but also I do not even know the rewards. I pay no attention whatsoever to the reward, and I do not even notice the works, so I certainly do not do good works for the sake of a reward. But I can believe that rewards are coming according as the work shall be; I leave that up to Him. My focus is on Christ and His Gospel message. It is enough to know that God notices, takes account, and brings the reward with Jesus when He comes. I have much to look forward to. I do not need a payback for every good deed and I don’t expect tit for tat. All I know is that “he who gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones will by no means lose his reward.”
This last promise from the lips of Jesus encourages us to look forward with anticipation and to be extremely optimistic about our future.