Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Rewards

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
--C. S. Lewis


I had lunch with a close friend yesterday. Years ago when I was in business I helped him and another associate to get connected. Both men were benefited by the relationship. Both men made money, but until yesterday I did not know how much. My friend told me that because of my connections with both of them they have both become very wealthy. In fact he told me that the other gentleman I connected him with just sold his company and pocketed 2 billion dollars! Yes, you heard me right- 2 billion! I thought, "well, Mike, how quickly they forget what you have done for them." And in fact they do forget. I remember the day when this now billionare was so discouraged that he was thinking of leaving the business. I encouraged him to keep going, and got him the right relationships to make it work, and boy did it work! WOW! And what did I get? You guessed it, not even a "thank you" for all my help, but I thought later that this is not what I'm after. Money has never been my goal. I have had opportunities to make millions, but the Lord has graciously protected me from money. That sounds funny, doesn't it? But I consider my lack of "big bucks" a real blessing. We get to see God work! We get to trust Him! I really come out way ahead of my billionare friend, and, in the end I get a much better reward! I get heaven,and all the souls I have had the great joy of leading to Christ. I get to enjoy God's better prize, so may I say to my friend, "Enjoy your billions, but I have much more than that awaiting me."

Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Psa 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Psa 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
Psa 37:6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.
Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Psa 37:8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
Psa 37:9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love the verse in Ephesians about the inheritance we have in Christ. About 15 years ago we received word that an attorney was searching for my grandmother's heirs. This included me and my brother and sister. Apparently my grandmother had inherited (after her death) a piece of land with her cousins (all deceased too). They needed our signatures to sell the property and a check would be in the mail. We readied ourselves, discussing what we would do with this inheritance. New cars? A vacation? New carpeting? When the check arrived, we each received 112 dollars and some change. We laughed and laughed at the windfall. Apparently there were a bunch of heirs to divide up the property, paying the attorneys fees too.

I'm thankful my inheritance with God is not like that, divided up amongst us. God's economy means we get 100% of his riches in Glory. Wow!