What Do I Get? – Part 2

CALL TO PRAYER

By: Stephen Osei Kuffour

Date: 18.09.2022

Title: What Do I Get? – Part 2

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”

 (Matthew 19:27 NKJV)

In last week’s Call to Prayer, I began sharing on the topic, “What do I get?” which was based on a question Apostle Peter once asked our Lord Jesus. Most Christians have sacrificed a lot for the Gospel and the Kingdom of God as a whole. However, what reward do we get for all these sacrifices? We learnt from the answer of our Lord Jesus that every sacrifice we make for the Lord will surely be rewarded (Luke 18:29-30). Today, I would like to continue this topic and also talk about why it is good to live our Christian lives with this reward-consciousness.

One time King Hezekiah who was King of Judah became severely ill, and the Lord sent the Prophet Isaiah to inform him that he is going to die and so he should make the necessary preparations. Compared to some of his predecessors, he was a good King who feared the Lord. When he received the message from the Prophet, he went to the Lord in Prayer. He asked the Lord to remember all his faithfulness and good works and help him to recover from his illness. The Lord answered his prayers and added fifteen more years to his life (2 Kings 20:1-11).

The Lord keeps good records of every work we do for His Kingdom and all the sacrifices we make for His Kingdom’s sake. He is not a man to forget our Labor of love (Heb 6:10). Most people easily forget the people who once helped them on their way to success. Some of our Employers who even offer rewards in a form of Salary also cheat and steal from us. This a typical human nature but God is not like that. He remembers everything and will reward us accordingly.

I believe that it is very important to live our lives in reward-consciousness and Heaven-consciousness. This was the main motivation for the early Disciples and Apostles. They were willing to die for the Gospel because they knew what was awaiting them. Stephen even prayed for the Jews as he was being stoned to death because he knew the rewards that await him (Acts 7). Apostle Paul went through a lot of sufferings for the sake of the Gospel (2 Tim 3:11, 2 Cor 11:24). We can see his motivation in his second letter to Timothy where he said, “I have fought the good fight…there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness…” (2 Tim 4:7-8). His main focus and motivation were the Crowns he would receive.

Most people including your family will not understand your sacrifices. You may even be ridiculed and persecuted. However, let’s not focus on what people are saying but rather on what the Lord is saying concerning us. I would say, let’s not even focus on the titles and accolades (Rev., Bishop etc.) or the praise we will receive from the head of our fellowship. These people will not even recognize all the work you do. However, the Lord who sees everything we do in secret will reward us openly (Matt. 6:4). At the end, there will surely be a difference between those who served the Lord and those who didn’t (Mal 3:18).

Beloved in the Lord, let’s therefore continue to do our work and Assignments with Love and make sacrifices to ensure that the Will of God is being done on earth, knowing that our labor will surely be rewarded. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor 15:58).

Prayer Point:

Let’s thank God for His Word today. Let’s ask the Lord to help all Believers to be conscious that our Labor for Him will be rewarded. Let’s also ask the Lord to help all Believers to do their Kingdom’s Work and Assignments with Love.

God bless you  all

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