Ephesians 6:8
“knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive this back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”
I came to Christ out of fear. A little was the fear of death, but a general respect to want to be on His side. It didn’t seem like an option not to be. The first year or so was the working out of misunderstanding. There were many ought to’s. I was at bible school and learning about God’s grace when much of it that was cleansed away.
The concept of getting something back wasn’t there. I would say that, “God is good”. The answer why, would be because of salvation. Which is certainly enough, but there is far more.
Hebrews 11:6 shares more clearly what today’s verse says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” There wasn’t any of this in me. I didn’t know that God rewards those that seek Him.
My reflex thoughts about God were uncomfortable. Too many should’s and ought to’s. I know better now. When I think about God now, warmth comes. Roman’s 8:15,16 says, ‘For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God’.
He is a Spirit of adoption. He wants us. He wants to include us in His family and make us feel welcome. Just as a childless parent dreams of getting a child to raise, so God wants us. He wants us to feel loved and secure, to grow up and function well. That’s our God.
How does He reward us? In many ways. He wants us to be whole and healthy, He will weed out addictive tendencies, He will give confidence. He’s our creator, so He knows us far better than we know ourselves. He’s provided jobs, cars, friends, you name it, He’s probably given it.
Does He ever ask us to do anything uncomfortable? Sometimes. He will empower and bless. We’ll be happy we did it. While we’re doing it, we know Him that He’ll reward us.
We share out of obedience at times. Other times it’s to share with them that there is this spring of blessing that we want them to know. I’ve heard it said that we are beggars telling other beggars where to find bread. In one sense, yes, but we are far more and He is far more.
Today’s verse is saying that we will reap what we sow, in a good sense. However, God’s proportions are different. It is not a one for one transaction. Malachi 3:10 says, ‘”Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the LORD of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows”‘. We give our fraction, but God returns it in abundance. It’s not just money, but all of life. Primarily with joy and well being. Then it’s relationships, opportunities, blessings at work, sharing Christ with others and so on.
We become generous as well. It may have been completely against our nature. We may have been very conservative and maybe stingy. As we become His child, He gives so much, that we learn to trust Him. More and more so. We begin to realize that He’s got us. We can give liberally and not be afraid.
Thank You, God, for Your generosity and love. You have taken us who are skittish as animals and lured us in, loved us, blessed us and sent us out to repeat the process. Thank You.