Our Rewards Are Determined By Our Sacrifice

Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much.
–Matthew 19:29

There are three principles about rewards we can learn from Matthew 19-20. First, God is free to reward whomever He chooses. Second, rewards are based on our motives. Finally, this passage reminds us that our rewards will be determined by our sacrifice. In other words, there is a relationship between how much we sacrifice here and how many rewards we have in heaven. Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 19:29: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much.” Whatever you give up here will be multiplied by the rewards you receive in heaven.

There is some strange thinking that goes on in Christian circles today about sacrifice. Many Christians say, “I am willing to serve in ministry unless it eats into my time with my family. After all, God would never ask me to sacrifice time with my family, would He?” Look at what Jesus said: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake.” Yes, God has given us families, and we need to spend time with our families. But many Christians today have made a fetish out of the family. They say, “My family is more important than anything, including my relationship with God.” The truth is, “family” is just a synonym for “self” to many people. It is an excuse to indulge in what they want to do. Sometimes God calls us to sacrifice time and relationships in order to serve Him.

There are some people who say, “I will be happy to take a stand for Christ at my workplace, unless I start to get some static from it. God would never ask me to sacrifice a promotion, would He?” Or, “I am happy to give money to the Lord’s work, unless there is something I really want to do with the money. God would never ask me to give up something I want in order to invest in His work, would He?” Understand this: service to Christ that costs nothing is worth nothing.

What kind of sacrifice are you willing to make for God’s kingdom? Are you willing to sacrifice a little sleep so that you can spend time in God’s Word? Are you willing to give up your freedom to be gone on the weekends so that you can serve in a place of ministry at church? Are you willing to say no to something in your workplace even though it might cost you a promotion–or even your job? Are you willing to give up something important to you in order to invest in God’s kingdom? Service to God that costs nothing is worth nothing.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “A Lesson In Workman’s Compensation” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org