Mind of a Christian

A Christian Life is Rewarding

IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter has no intention to teach that a Christian life is rewarded in a modern Western capitalist sense. Yes, there are rewards for doing the Lord's work, but explaining these rewards in this chapter is not intended to be done in a shallow / selfish sense to lure people to Christianity like a TV commercial. I don't strive to gain anything for myself with this. This is just one aspect of how a Christian life is rewarding. There are many more ways beyond what will be described here.

In a previous chapter, I expressed that the Christian lifestyle is not easy. Christians are still responsible for following God's laws, and they will be held accountable for how poorly they follow them.

There are 613 laws and commandments in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. No one can say that following all of them is an easy task.

So what's the payoff of being a Christian? It sounds like a whole lot of work and sacrifice for nothing.

Well, I did say before that there are rewards and consequences for what we do in our lives. I'm here to tell you that the rewards are BIG.

God ABUNDANTLY rewards faithful servants.

For this chapter, we'll be looking at the Parable of the Talents. It'll be a "long" selection of scripture, but I believe that it's important to look at the entirety of a parable when studying it. For your convenience, I bolded the text that will be relevant for this chapter.

Let's get to it!

"'For it is like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and handed over his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.

'Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained five more. In the same way, the one with two gained two more. But the one who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

'Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought another five talents, saying, 'Master, you handed me five talents. Look, I've gained five more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a little, so I'll put you in charge of much. Enter into your master's joy!'

'The one who had received the two talents also came up and said, 'Master, you handed me two talents. Look, I've gained two more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a little, so I'll put you in charge of much. Enter into your master's joy!'

'Then the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, 'Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn't sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.'

'But his master responded, 'You wicked, lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I didn't sow and gather were I scattered no seed? Then you should have brought my money to the brokers, and when I came I would have received it back with interest.

Therefore take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For the one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." (Matthew 25: 14-29 TLV, emphasis added.)

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There's so much to cover in this parable, as it explains well the results of both being obedient and not being obedient. I'll go over the benefits of being productive with what is given to you.

Let's look at how the servants fared:

The servant who made 5 talents into 10 was given power/authority, as well as approval from his master. Good for him!

The second servant made 2 talents into 4, and was also given power/authority, as well as approval from his master. Although the second servant yielded less talents than the first servant (+2 talents compared to +5 talents), he still yielded more than he initially had. And here's an important thing to get out of this parable: It doesn't matter what you start out with; what matters is that you make use of what you have.

"for the one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance" (v.29)

The first servant started with 5 talents, and in the end received 11 talents, as well as power and authority over his master's domain. The second servant started with only 2 talents, and received 4 in total, but also received power and authority. The second part of the reward for these two servants - power and authority - are arguably more important than the first. But even if we say that the gold talents was a more important reward, God's gifts and blessings go beyond a linear relationship. In many cases, it's quite exponential!

Now I'd like to point out the last servant, the one who didn't make use of his talent. The master said that he could've brought the money to the brokers to gain interest. This is like putting money into a savings account so that the bank adds interest on top of it (v.27). Even though one talent of gold is worth a lot of money, the interest rate would still only add on a small percentage of the deposit. It's certainly not doubling the one talent. At best, it might have earned this servant a small sum of denarii.

But the master would have accepted that. He would have accepted the servant bringing in just a fraction more of what he was given.

So what does this all mean for Christians?

Even if the responsibilities that you have to fulfill are small, they're still in your capacity to do. Don't look at the other person's achievements. Whatever you yourself can do, you should!

Even if you do just a portion of what you're capable of doing, or a portion of what you're responsible for, it's at least something!

God does not overlook honest work towards His kingdom. He will reward you justly, as He sees fit. If you are to do the work of God, do so with a humble heart, knowing that it's not for your benefit, but for God's glory.

I can't tell you exactly how you'll be rewarded, but if your reward is for your eternal life, then I speculate that you might be in a better position in heaven and have a closer relationship with God. If you think a promotion in the job that you like is great, imagine how much greater this would be!

A Christian life isn't easy.

But chin up! There's great things in store for you if you put in the effort.