And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, Colossians 3:23 (NKJV)
Unfortunately our culture believes success is based on a mans monetary accumulation and by what he drives or where he may live. Biblically speaking, this couldnt be further from the truth. Each culture has their own ways of showing off their wealth, or dealing with the loss of it as well. From lavishing themselves with every kind of coveted object with their money, to taking their own lives when they lose their worldly wealth.
But the Word of God doesnt place any value on what a man does for his income. In fact, the emphasis is on how he works, and with whom he should really be working for.
The scriptures above tell us, that whatever we do, we should be doing it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. Talking about doing it in a way completely opposite to how we were raised. I mean when I was growing up, we were taught to believe that we were supposed to bring an apple to the teacher. And you were smart if you worked especially hard whenever the boss was around, so hed see you and think well of you.
But again, according to the Word of God, we are to work willingly at whatever we do, as though we were working for the Lord rather than people. And by doing this, we are to also know that there is a reward awaiting us.
Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. Colossians 3:24 (NLT)
We need to know that we are going to be judged when our life is over. For those who dont know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, their judgment will be at the White Throne as recorded in Revelation 20. But for those who have accepted Christ, our judgment will be at the Bema seat of Christ.
The Bema Seat is for believers whose salvation has already been secured by faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). Our sins are not being judged here, but we are being judged and will be rewarded based on how we lived our lives since we accepted Christ, and gave our lives to Him.
We see this being told to us in Romans 14
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10-12 (NKJV)
And in 2 Corinthians 5:10 we are told, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Our judgment as Christians will be on what we have done with the gifts, the talents, the time, the abilities, and the opportunities that God has given to each of us individually.
We need to remember that we will be rewarded for our faithful working here. All those times we did the right thing at work, and we gave our best effort as if it were for God himself; because it really was.
The Bible tells us that there will be some Christian people who will be judged at this time, and they wont have anything coming to them. This is because all of the work that they did was for their own selfish reasons, and financial gain. The things they put their effort into had no real eternal value. Even the way they did their work, and the witness they left because of the way they performed their work was not honoring to God.
And because of this, there will be no rewards. And in fact, they will be likened to someone who has fled from a burning house, with no possessions. They will barely escape from the home with the flames singeing them on the way out.
If anyones work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1Corinthians 3:15 (NKJV)
Hey Christian, God has given us eternal life to look forward to. We have the guarantees of God that we will be given many rewards when we see Him for using our life in a selfless way. This is our job now, and it is going to have an impact on all those who know us in one way or the other. Lets make an impact for the Lord and be the best workers that we can possibly be.
STUDY QUESTION: How are we to work for others, or do anything else for that matter, according to Colossians 3:23?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you doing everything you do, as if you were doing it for Jesus?
APPLICATION: Lets start to do everything as if we were doing it for Jesus. Lets start in our work, our giving, and our loving others and considering them more important than ourselves.
Unfortunately our culture believes success is based on a mans monetary accumulation and by what he drives or where he may live. Biblically speaking, this couldnt be further from the truth. Each culture has their own ways of showing off their wealth, or dealing with the loss of it as well. From lavishing themselves with every kind of coveted object with their money, to taking their own lives when they lose their worldly wealth.
But the Word of God doesnt place any value on what a man does for his income. In fact, the emphasis is on how he works, and with whom he should really be working for.
The scriptures above tell us, that whatever we do, we should be doing it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. Talking about doing it in a way completely opposite to how we were raised. I mean when I was growing up, we were taught to believe that we were supposed to bring an apple to the teacher. And you were smart if you worked especially hard whenever the boss was around, so hed see you and think well of you.
But again, according to the Word of God, we are to work willingly at whatever we do, as though we were working for the Lord rather than people. And by doing this, we are to also know that there is a reward awaiting us.
Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. Colossians 3:24 (NLT)
We need to know that we are going to be judged when our life is over. For those who dont know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, their judgment will be at the White Throne as recorded in Revelation 20. But for those who have accepted Christ, our judgment will be at the Bema seat of Christ.
The Bema Seat is for believers whose salvation has already been secured by faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). Our sins are not being judged here, but we are being judged and will be rewarded based on how we lived our lives since we accepted Christ, and gave our lives to Him.
We see this being told to us in Romans 14
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10-12 (NKJV)
And in 2 Corinthians 5:10 we are told, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Our judgment as Christians will be on what we have done with the gifts, the talents, the time, the abilities, and the opportunities that God has given to each of us individually.
We need to remember that we will be rewarded for our faithful working here. All those times we did the right thing at work, and we gave our best effort as if it were for God himself; because it really was.
The Bible tells us that there will be some Christian people who will be judged at this time, and they wont have anything coming to them. This is because all of the work that they did was for their own selfish reasons, and financial gain. The things they put their effort into had no real eternal value. Even the way they did their work, and the witness they left because of the way they performed their work was not honoring to God.
And because of this, there will be no rewards. And in fact, they will be likened to someone who has fled from a burning house, with no possessions. They will barely escape from the home with the flames singeing them on the way out.
If anyones work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 1Corinthians 3:15 (NKJV)
Hey Christian, God has given us eternal life to look forward to. We have the guarantees of God that we will be given many rewards when we see Him for using our life in a selfless way. This is our job now, and it is going to have an impact on all those who know us in one way or the other. Lets make an impact for the Lord and be the best workers that we can possibly be.
STUDY QUESTION: How are we to work for others, or do anything else for that matter, according to Colossians 3:23?
PERSONAL INVENTORY: Are you doing everything you do, as if you were doing it for Jesus?
APPLICATION: Lets start to do everything as if we were doing it for Jesus. Lets start in our work, our giving, and our loving others and considering them more important than ourselves.
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