13 Dec 2011
Hebrews 6:10
Hebrews 6:10: “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”
This is a vital point. Our lives do matter, and our good works matter as well. As someone once said, the only thing that we can take with us to Heaven are our good deeds. In life it often seems that we’re just wasting our time; we serve and help and love and, in return, are hated, despised, and rejected for it. Yet God will not forget what we’ve done, nor will He fail to reward us. The things that we do really do matter, because we are serving the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:24).
God wants us to “not be weary in well doing,” for we will reap if we faint not. We need to pursue good deeds wholeheartedly, with the understanding that the harvest will come in God’s time, not ours.
I Corinthians says that true love “does not seek its own”. Jesus told us to love our neighbors and our enemies as ourselves. All of us will have to stand before God and give an account of our lives. When we do this, what kind of life will we have lived? A self-centered one? A worldly one? Or a selfless one, characterized by goodness and love? Do you really believe that our lives make no difference to God – that those who spent their lives in self-indulgence, abusing others, will be praised and rewarded the same as those who lived a life of painful sacrifice and service?
Some may say “Oh, judgment is a long way off. It doesn’t really affect me right now.” That may be – but the thing to remember is that judgment is eternal. Are you really willing to sacrifice eternal rewards, that fade not away, for a few short moments of self-indulgence?