As I dozed off to sleep last night, I went with guilt. I was snuggled up in my comfy bed, ready for dreamland while my 13 year old daughter still worked on homework upstairs in her room. During the week, she has almost no free time. She's a smart girl, but she has to study her heart out to get the grades she does. She has a goal...to be the valedictorian of her senior class. She's disciplined. She knows the commitment it will take to achieve it, and she's willing to sacrifice to reach her goal. The reward comes every six weeks on her report card when she looks at the grades and acknowledges that she did her best.
Hebrews 11:6 says that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." The last part of this verse is what keeps coming back to me over and over the last few days. Another translation says: "He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." God rewards my efforts to know Him more deeply! The verse is not past tense. It doesn't say He rewards them that sought Him at one time, even if it was diligent for a season. It's another formula found in Scripture, and I love formulas. They are so easy to understand, and the Bible is full of them. Seek God diligently and He will reward you.
Amber can probably pass a test today based on knowledge she's gained over the years. But to "ace" that test, she must have been actively studying the material. While God definitely wants us to rest on past knowledge that He's taught us over the years, He doesn't want us to rest only in that. My Master-Teacher wants to teach me new things every morning. As a student, however, I have to choose to pursue. I have to be diligent to seek what He's teaching. I have to be looking for it, and asking God to show me WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO LEARN TODAY! He has to consume what my heart meditates on, and He needs to occupy the seat of my passion.
Although God may choose to reward me financially, usually that's not the reward God chooses. More likely, the rewards are in the increased joy I have of knowing him more intimately. The rewards are in telling other people about His faithfulness...about how God healed me from cancer...about how He provided for our family in times of distress...about how He's working in my life. Because I have a history with God, I can tell of His marvelous works (I Chronicles 16:9.) But God seems to be constantly reminding me that I can't just tell others of what He's done for me in the past...I need to continually be studying and pursuing Him with all my efforts, so that like Peter and John in Acts 4:20 "I can not help speaking about what I have seen and heard." (Thanks, Marta, for pointing out that verse to me!)
So today, I want to take a lesson from Amber and the discipline she portrays in her school work. I want to study until I know the material, which means I will be a life-long student. I want to know I've studied exactly what God expects of me to pass the test for the day. And I want to retain what He's taught me, so that I can tell others. I want the rewards that come through diligently seeking God, but the real reward is just seeking Him. He is the prize!
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com