22 February 2009
Reward for your labour (Part II)
Posted by admin1 under: Sermons .
“Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening” (Psalms 104:23).
There is a time limit between labour and reward. Also, our labour will determine our reward. The above verse tells us that we must expect reward at the end of our working days on the earth. “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work ” (St. John 9:4). Our labour can only be done whilst we are still alive, “for whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Beyond the grave there is no salvation, nor repentence, but the fruits of our labour.
At our jobs, there is a pay period when we receive the reward of our natural labour. The reward we receive, is equivalent to the amount of labour and or time we put in. Even in the kingdom, we shall be rewarded according to our labour. Jesus in Revelation 22:12 has already forwarned us: “… my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be”.
There is spiritual labour whose reward though not immediate but is everlasting. Our basic needs often need to be met immediately. And this fact often deceives us and leads us to provide for this temporal life at the expense of eternal life. Though urgent and important now, our flesh and its needs “cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven” (I Corinthians 15:50) (Part I). Therefore, “and let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).
While labouring for our soul salvation we need the grace to persevere because the rewards are not immediate. If we faint we will forfeit our reward. It is easy to give up and to faint whilst labouring in the kingdom because the reward is not immediate. If we continue and faint not labouring for the Lord, the Lord himself “shall renew our strength, we shall run and not be weary; we shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
As we bear the burden and heat of the day (St. Matthew 20:12); let us remember that we will receive a reward which fadeth not away (I Peter 1:4). Let us endure until the end because there is a crown of life (Revelation 2:10).We face the end of our labour when we die. And whatever we have done in this life, will determine what we shall receive in the world to come.
“And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (I Peter 5:4).
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