How thankful are you? Do you recognize what others do for you? Have you ever thought back over a day and tried to identify everything little thing one person or another has done for you? Have you taken it a step farther to identify those things people have done for you because you are a follower of Christ?
We often take for granted what others do for us. It may be a simple thing like making the coffee in the morning, making copies of a document, or allowing us to watch our favorite television show. It may be much more elaborate. It may be even more challenging to know if they did it for us because we follow Jesus.
If your spouse loves you because you follow Jesus, then it is likely everything done for you by him or her is done because of it. They may not even recognize it every time they do something. The same is true for you. The reason behind the serving one another is Christ, even if we don’t recognize it. There is a reward for that.
The reward is both now and in heaven. The reward we receive now is temporary. We feel a bit of satisfaction for serving someone else. It is nice to bless someone else. In turn, the other person may appreciate it enough to bless us. It turns into a symbiotic relationship of blessings. Our reward in heaven is unknown. Jesus doesn’t tell us just what it is. But we can rest assured in His promise.
Yet, we should not serve others for the purpose of receiving a reward. We should serve others to be like Jesus. Keeping the reward in the back of our isn’t bad, but it shouldn’t be our motivation. Jesus let’s us know in this short saying that there are rewards for serving, whether we are serving others, or they are serving us.
I pray we all know Jesus keeps His promises. I pray we know there are rewards for serving others. I pray each one of us strive to be more like Jesus, regardless of the promised rewards. Serve one another. Know there are rewards. Strive to be like Jesus. Know Jesus keeps His promises.
Mark 9:41 “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”
Marty Pressey 