Looking for Reward?

Looking for Reward!

Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve. Colossians 3:23‭-‬24 AMP

If I understand my position, I will not struggle with what I have been assigned to do. People with an identity crisis need the right context, description and full information on reward metrics before they can commit to serve. Unfortunately, if I am a servant, properly so called, as is the context of today's extract, then the choice of work is not an option. The only option available is what today's extract covers: my choice of availability and response. 

So, the main consideration isn't whether the work brings me recognition; it is first whether this is what the master wants me to do. The value of what I do has to do with WHO commissions it, not WHAT I will gain from it in the immediate. I also note that the value of the work I am to do isn't specified in monetary terms. Too many times, we seek work that can be monetised, and our output is often determined by the input of our bank account balances. Today's extract just says: whatever you do, wrok from your soul. The heart, motivation and inspiration behind the action also matter. Men cannot see hypocrisy, which goes back to whether I understand WHO I am working for. Men may not identify hypocrisy, but God can.

So if I know I work for the Lord, it won't matter who is the human instrument used to supervise or oversee what I do. If I know I work for the Lord, I know my reward isn't from men. What can man give me, compared to what God is able to make me? Man can only give out of what he has; God is able to make me into something beyond even my own wildest dreams. My earthly service is a function of God's call upon my life, as my life was built to serve others. I was gifted and planted to make an impact on the lives of people around me, but the ultimate goal is to understand that this present earthly phase is just a preparation for eternity. It does not all end down here. 

And there is a reward. Oh, man can reward for service. Nothing wrong with that. If I know from the start that my reward is from God, then the motivation to please God is there from the start. The reward is noted to be an inheritance, meaning it is stored up for me, based on my relationship with the One I am working for, and to be handed over to me at the end of my service. Every other thing I get down here is just for this earth: applause, recognition, commendation, praise. These are only fit for the earth. I must not labour for the things of this earth, at the expense of the real thing: the inheritance from the Lord. I do not want to stand before the ultimate master of all the universe with all my earthly rewards, and discover that I had laboured for all the wrong reasons and for the wrong rewards. Lord, let me not be defined by what men call my work, but to labour to please you. That's all that counts. Eternity is too long a time not to labour towards it, and ensure that my present work is storing up rewards in line with the inheritance I am to receive. His time of favour is here.