“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” - Philippians 3:14 (NIV).
Sports day is one of the most exciting time in a typical school calendar. This is the day which most kids look forward to as one by one they all descend early on the field to showcase their talents. All over they compete in a series of exacting games: track and field, high jump, long jump, short put, javelin, volley ball and many others. Often so towards the end parents also join in one final race, to the screaming delight of children as they see their mothers and fathers suddenly pull out all their old tricks and sprint to the finishing line.
The climax of any Sports day is the awards ceremonies. Any child who excelled and beat his competitors receives a medal. In other cases there are group medals shared among members of winning teams. It is a joyous day for every child who wins at something and goes home proudly strapping around his neck a medal. Job well done!
Now, much like Sports Day, the Christian life also culminates with a reward. The first reward is one which comes quite effortless. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”! The Almighty God through His son Jesus Christ has already done it for us. Like the robber who was crucified with Jesus, this is a reward we receive not because of our individual effort but because we have believed. “Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
But then there is also a reward that comes after our individual efforts, just like the medals won on Sports Day. Romans 2:6 says, “God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” For we all know that during Sports Day, it is not merely going to compete expecting a medal. There are diverse talents which competitors come along with. These talents had nothing to do with them but were a gift of their creator. But to excel, one needs to have invested time and training, so as to win.
We as believers God has given each one of us a worthy talent. God expects us not to sit on our talents like one man who decided to hide his and still expect a reward (Mathew 25: 14- 30). It is those who use these God given talents, that God has promised yet a huge reward!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the reward of eternal life through faith in Jesus, and the reward that awaits me as I use the talents you have blessed me with for the extension of your kingdom, this I pray in Jesus’s name!
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
