"And 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." Hebrews 11:6
In my last post, I highlighted the importance of enduring through trials that come when you exercise your faith the way God intended. As we know, God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and so it goes without saying that when our faith is tested and tried and we continue to believe in Him, there will be a reward for us. There are different types of rewards we can get but the examples in the bible can be categorised in two main types:
Physical/material
Spiritual
One of the best examples of the rewards of enduring faith is the life of Job. Job was an upright and blameless man (Job 1:1) whose faith and tested when God allowed Satan to destroy Job's life, taking the lives of his family and all his material wealth and causing him to have boils. During the trial, although Job lamented about his circumstances, as most of us would, he never lost his faith in God. Job understood that he couldn't expect to receive good things from God and not have any challenging trials (Job 2:10). With this understanding, he was able to persevere until he heard from God and understood the circumstances around his trial. At the end of his trial, Job was rewarded with double the blessings he had before the trial. Although he didn't endure the trial because of what he would get at the end, he was rewarded nonetheless.
Jesus faced the same test when he endured the biggest trial which resulted in Him sacrificing His life for our sake. Jesus was rewarded with the highest honour of being seated at the right hand of God the Father (Luke 22:69), having completed his assignment on earth, defeating death and giving up His life for us. Paul also references this heavenly reward in 2 Timothy 4:8 when He writes:
"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing."
Ephesians 1:3 - 14 also highlights the spiritual blessings we receive as the chosen ones who have been created (and choose) to serve God. Although we do not endure trials for the physical/material reward, we must always look forward to the higher reward in heaven, trusting that whilst we are on earth, God our Father will ensure that all our daily needs are met and any requests we make of Him will be granted according to our faith (Mark 11:24) and according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).
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