To encourage my children to run with me, I set up a reward system. For every 20 miles they run, I treat them to a junior frosty. For every 100 miles they run, we enjoy dinner at a restaurant of their choice. They are my children whether they run or not, but our shared times together are extra special.
Jesus promises even greater rewards
for His children. In this final chapter of Revelation, I believe He’s offering the
ultimate reward: Himself and eternal life.
Revelation 22:12-13 12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is
with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have
done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
The reward of believing in Jesus,
the great I AM, is Jesus Himself.
John 6:28-29 28 Then they
asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
The reward of Jesus Himself
comes with the blessing of eternal life.
Revelation 22:14-15 14 “Blessed are those who wash their
robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go
through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are
the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
It’s
important to understand that “washing their robes” doesn’t imply earning a
place in heaven. Rather, it means obeying God’s command to submit to His plan
of salvation through faith in Jesus. As we read earlier in Revelation, those
with clean white robes “washed” them in Jesus’s blood (Revelation 7:14 “they have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb.”) This points out our inability to cleanse ourselves from the stain
of sin. Only Jesus’s death and shed blood can forgive, cleanse, and make us righteous.
Then, we can humbly stand before God’s throne in Jesus’s righteousness.
What would it look like for us to live in light of Jesus's promise? How might our lives change if we truly believed He's the ultimate reward?
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