More On Reward

I read this in a commentary last night: If people serve God only for what they get out of it, then they are not serving God at all, they are only serving themselves by making God their servant.3

It sounds good. It preaches well. It reminds me of the saying by the preacher, “God is more interested in your holiness than your happiness.” As if they were separate! As if they were opposite! As if they don’t come together!

Holiness and happiness come together. The happiest people on the planet are people who live holy lives. And, you can’t be holy unless you are obedient to the command of a holy God to, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 3.1; 4.4) and, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” (Psalm 37.4)

The writer of Hebrews said you can’t come to God unless you believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

You can’t. Let that sink in. You won’t. We are irrevocably hard wired to pursue what we believe to be in our best interest. We must come to love the Christian life, or we will never come to live the Christian life.