Rewarded for Your Investment

“The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.” 

1 Corinthians 3:8 

Impressive-looking actors on TV commercials talk about investing in gold or silver as “the one investment that will last.” And so it may—for the brief, fleeting years of your life. But what then? What will that portfolio mean when you stand before God on the cusp of eternity? It makes so much more sense to invest in heaven.  

The New Testament tells us again and again that one day, those who belong to Christ will stand before their Lord and be rewarded for the investment of their lives on earth. What sort of rewards? Jonathan Edwards speculated that as we lay up treasures in heaven, we actually increase our capacity for joy and worship and service to God for all eternity.  

As we seek to please Him, as we trust and obey Him and lean on Him, we stretch our capacity for all of the untold, unimagined mysteries, wonders, glories, and joys of the life to come. 

Lord, sometimes I need to be reminded of these things. The way I respond to trials and tests and here on earth, the way I obey You when my body and soul are pulling so hard in another direction, will one day impact my eternal soul forever. I want the best You have, Jesus. I want to stay faithful.