New Testament Rewards

Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him  Hebrews 11:6  (RSV)

Rewards –  Do you want to be closer to God?  Then this verse is for you.  Just make sure that you know what it says.  It’s not about rewards.  It’s about the One Who provides the reward.

If I want to be closer to God, I must first acknowledge His existence.  That’s a lot more than simply stating that there is a god.  The demons acknowledge that there is a god, but they aren’t any closer to Him.  Believing that God exists is the equivalent of acknowledging, honoring and submitting to His sovereignty.  If I say, “I believe God exists,” I imply that I am not God, that God is worthy of worship and that my spiritual duty and desire is to serve Him.  Without this, my claim to believe in God is no more significant than the statement of the demons.  Unless God is Lord over me, what I claim about His existence means nothing.

There is one other requirement.  You must believe that He wants your intimacy.  The Greek text actually says, “that He becomes a rewarder to those.”  Notice that the emphasis in the Greek is not on the reward, but rather on the rewarder.  God becomes the rewarder of those who earnestly seek to draw near while fully submitting to His authority.  The word in Greek is misthapodotes.  It is derived from two words; one that means “wages or reward” and the other that means “to render, to give from.”  God renders appropriate wages to those who seek Him.  God is the perfect paymaster, giving exactly what is due based on the effort expended.

Paul said the same thing.  Just as the wages of sin is death, so the wages of intimacy with God is life.  Oh, you thought that Paul said eternal life is a gift, not a reward.  You are right, of course.  It is not your wages.  You didn’t earn it.  Jesus did.  Jesus earned life for you.  You receive His wages because Jesus practices God’s version of capitalism – He gives away His share.

What does this mean for you?  If you are going to model Jesus, then you will need to do the same thing.  What you earn in the presence of the Father must be given away to someone who has not earned it.  Take that joy, peace, fulfillment, reconciliation, forgiveness and purpose – take God, the true reward – and give it away.  What you try to hold for yourself will be lost.  What you freely give will be found.

New Testament rewards are upside-down.  They come through emptying.  What did you expect?  A bigger bank account?