“³Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.” — Psalm 127:3 (ESV)

Pretty clear in the verse above about children. They really are a reward to the work that you and your spouse are doing for and in the name of the LORD. Children are to be cherished as rewards are. They are to be cared for and cultivated. Children are to be brought up in the name and works of God, and it is my duty as their entrusted earthly father and mentor to do just that. It is my job “in bringing the children into the world and in raising them to be faithful members of God’s people.” (NIV commentary)

But it is more than just that. Yes, I am to care for them and cultivate them and grow them in the name and way of God. They also provide for me in the way that I provide for them.

“⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. ⁵Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” — Psalm 127:4-5 (ESV)

I am more capable in my fight for God with brothers and sisters in Christ by my side. With children I have those brothers and sisters naturally there. I personally have two son’s and they are the arrows in my quiver giving me strength to go into battle. They are on my side and I can only have faith that they are fighting with God as well. I had the privilege of guiding them in their young lives and fought alongside them in their battles, and now I know that they will fight alongside me in mine.

I am not done with them. Bryson and Aarron are both rewards given to Lori and I from God and no matter where we are in time, they are still our rewards to be cultivated and cared for throughout. They are our arrows in a fight and we are the quiver for them to find refuge. We are stronger with them and as a family unit as we stand for Christ in the midst of this world. These children are our reward and more as we live for God.

What view of your children do you have? Are you seeing them as property to be owned and leveraged? What if you saw children as a reward to be cultivated and brought up in the name of God and allowed them to fight along side you for Christ?

“¹¹Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” — Psalm 19:11 (ESV)

Only one verse have I quoted here. Them is a consolidation of the items that we are to hold dear within our relationship with God. Them is, “the law, the testimony, the precepts, the commandment, the fear, and the rules” of the LORD.

My life is complicated, or so I believe it to be. I find it difficult to see the reward from God, when I feel as though I am always trying to dig myself out of a situation of less than joyous times. I recently even stated that it would be nice to have an opportunity to leave the house for a weekend or a couple of days for some joyous event, whereas it seems as though each time we leave, we are going to provide support or to “fix” something.

But, life is not complicated. I have the chance to experience joy at every turn when I am doing the work of God and keeping Him. In keeping “the law, the testimony, the precepts, the commandment, the fear, and the rules” of the LORD, I am “reviving, making wise, rejoicing, enlightening, enduring, and righteous”. I am experiencing joy, just not in the worldly sense of winning. I am able to have inner peace and inner joy as I take on and complete that which God has given to me to complete. I am rewarded for the work I have and will do when I dedicate that work to Him and bringing glory to Him.

My reward is not in the things that the world holds in regard. My reward is not in the monetary or physical. My reward is not in the winning the race or being declared the champion. My reward is in doing the work of God and keeping Him forever.

“¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” — Psalm 19:10 (ESV)

My reward is more than that of the world.

What kind of reward are you expecting and how are you expecting to achieve it? Are you looking to get yours here in this world? What if you were to simply dedicate yourself to the keeping of the LORD and his “law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and rules” and accepted the results as your reward?

I wonder what will be and when will be my reward. It seems as though I continue to work only to be rewarded with more and more work. I feel as though there is no real end.

“¹After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ ²But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continua childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ ³And Abram said, ‘Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.’” — Genesis 15:1-3 (ESV)

Abram was feeling it too. He had done all of this work for the Lord and yet, was feeling no reward except more work. In fact he was holding God to it, as pointing out he had not been given an heir from his own lineage. As noted above, I feel the same way, that I am working constantly without reward.

Yet, God does not waver in His plan, in fact He lays the plan out for Abram.

“⁴And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ ⁵And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” — Genesis 15:4-5 (ESV)

Abram believed the LORD. Although God did not stop there. As He could tell that Abram was still in need of additional convincing, God brought a vision to Abram and proceeded to show Him that his future reward was far into the future.

“¹³Then the LORD said to Abram, ‘Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. ¹⁴But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.’” — Genesis 15:13-15 (ESV)

God had a plan for Abram that no one in this world could see. It was the duty of Abram to trust God and proceed with the work God had for him. In the end, Abram would be rewarded for his work even if that reward came over 400 years later, and if he would not be able to experience it in this world, but with God.

I have been blessed with a great number of things that may not bring about monetary or physical rewards in this world; Lori, Bryson, and Aarron to start off, and most of all, a relationship with Christ. Those blessings have brought me many rewards that I may not count as physical, but upon reflection, they bring me plenty. I am rewarded with the future with Christ and the knowing that I have done His work each and every day and been given the opportunity to experience the blessings of Him and my family.

My ultimate reward may not be something I can see in this day. But that does not mean that it is not there or to be seen in the coming future. It is my duty to continue putting in the work and knowing that God is my reward and when the time is come, through my trust and patience, God will reveal it.

What reward are you expecting today? Are you more interested in the today than in the tomorrow? What if you were to trust and be patient, knowing that God will reveal your reward in the coming time?

I am one of those that expects things in a certain timeline. I know what I am looking for and have an idea of when and where it will be available. It does not mean that I am not patient, I just know and expect it. With God I have to remember that he is on his timeline and not mine.

“⁸But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” — 2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)

I forget that God is way bigger than I am and His timeline with me is longer than I believe it to be. God lives in an infinite timeline and I am only seeing things based on the timeline I know, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years. What I have to remember is that since God knows all and is working with all, what He has in store for me may be decades away. I have to be patient with Him and His timeline and lean on the fact that His timing is perfect.

I also have to remember that God is waiting on me. I have tasks to complete that He has given me and really, one of the first of those is to repent. God will not move on with me until I join Him in repentance, and He will wait.

“⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

God does not want me to end in the pits of hell, but He also is not going to force me to follow Him. He is waiting patiently for me to repent of my worldly ways and turn to Him. He knows the precise moment of my repentance and what is to follow that moment. I have to know that while I am waiting for God to act in my life, maybe He already has and I have just not seen it yet. Or maybe, He is patiently waiting for me and then He will provide for my ask. I do not know which it is and can only know that God’s plan is divine.

How then do I progress with this sort of stalemate of God and I waiting on each other? Well, I have to just move toward repentance and know that when I get there, God will be waiting with what is next for me. It may be what I was “asking” for, or it could be what He has next for me. I cannot know until I get there, and I will not get there until the repentance is in my heart and not just in my head. I have to be fully turned toward God so as to devote myself to Him and at that time, I will know what is next. God has been waiting for me and He will continue to do so as noted in verse nine above “not wishing that any should perish”.

What have you moved on from with God as a result of not being willing to wait on Him? Are you to impatient with what you expect from Him and forget about His timeline being drastically different than yours? What if you were to work at turning fully to Him in your heart, repenting and then accepting what it is that He as next for you?

Growing up in the Baptist church, it is often that you hear about those “back sliding Baptists”. Those that have fallen away from the faith and turned away from God. Whereas this does not happen as often as we might think, it is still something that I find interesting and is part of my study this morning.

“⁴For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” — Hebrews 6:4-6 (ESV)

There are those that have found Christ and accepted Salvation from him and lived a life of obedience to Him, only to have reached a point to allow the world to influence them and then turn away from Him. There are a number of reasons and circumstances as to the falling away, but ultimately separation from God and the relationship with Him is the root cause. It is difficult to come back once you have fallen away from Christ, as the world has now grabbed hold and the influences and instance gratification are hard to break free from.

But:

“⁹Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹²so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” — Hebrews 6:9-12 (ESV)

I have been with Him before and I can be with Him again. God will not abandon me even if I am fallen away. He knows the good that I have done and the way that I followed Him. He wants me to come back to Him. It will not be easy (although it starts easy enough), all that is needed is repentance that comes from within. It cannot be just words without meaning and action, repentance has to come from deep within and I have to take action to back-up and demonstrate my repentance to Him and show it to the world each and every moment.

Have you found that you have drifted or fallen away from your relationship with Christ? Are you trying to find the way to come back to Him? What if you simply repented of your ways and asked for forgiveness and just came back and began to glorify Him once again?

Lori and I have two boys that we are very proud of. They have progressed in life through their basic education and are at university tackling their education into their further careers. Whereas they are moving forward in that aspect of life, they are still infants and learning through the growth process when it comes to life in general.

In our faith and relationship and life of/with Christ, we have a growth track as well. I know that I have been on that track for about 35 years and whereas I feel all grown up in certain areas, I am still learning in others. The one thing I have to know and remember is that I do have to continue on past the foundation and forward into adulthood and maturity in the faith.

“¹Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, ²and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” — Hebrews 6:1-2 (ESV)

The writer of Hebrews is speaking here to those that have been following Christ for some time and have fallen backward and have not progressed in their maturity in the faith. The writer is calling out that idea to spark them back to the level of Christian maturity they should be. There is no reason for them to start over and learn the basics, or continue covering them. It is time for them to take on bigger tasks and “grow up” in their faith.

The growing up in the faith includes but is not limited to repentance. As they did, I have to remember to take on bigger tasks and think forward of what I should be repenting for. Those little things, whereas important yes, are things that I should now be avoiding out of habit and repentance for them should not be constant as I will not be sinning in those ways. I have moved on to bigger sins and need forgiveness for those now. My repentance moves forward as I move forward.

My boys are growing up and it is time for them to move on from the little things that they should have overcome to this point. As a Christian, I have moved on from the little things I have overcome and now I am forward to repentance for those that are now bigger than I.

Where are you in your repentance and life with Christ? Are you stuck in the beginning stages and not moving forward? What if you were to move forward into the bigger things and left the little things behind as you have already overcome them?

I am sure that most have heard the saying that “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. What I understand from that saying is that you will gain more traction in your movement if you are willing to treat those involved with a bit more gentleness than with quarreling and arguing the merits of the movement.

“²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” — 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (ESV)

Even in awaiting death, Paul is only thinking of the growth of those in Christ. He is writing to Timothy to encourage him, and in this passage, Paul is reminding Timothy to approach situations with care, gentleness, and patience. In doing so, those on the other side of the situation are more willing to listen and take heed. In my NIV commentary I read: “remember to listen to people’s questions and treat them respectfully, while avoiding foolish debates. I you do this, those who oppose you will be more willing to hear what you have to say and perhaps turn from their error.”

I am not all knowing and certainly not the expert at all things. I am willing to listen to the ideas and thoughts and opinions of others in the interest of getting to the truth and/or the root of the issue to be able to move forward in a thoughtful way. Differing opinions are just that differing opinions. They do not have to be “right or wrong”, they only have to be listened to and understood. When I am not willing to understand the opinion or thoughts of someone else, then I am leading them to the idea that they are wrong and place them on the defensive where they will argue the point to the end regardless of the consequences. It is for me as a Christian to listen and proceed with patience and gentleness to lead to repentance and understanding of all and therefore driving more reliance on God and not on man.

It is our willingness and actions toward gentleness that will encourage repentance of others. Not to me, but to God. That repentance is where one finds forgiveness. I am to drive others to Christ and not away from Him. That means that I should be taking the same overall approach of Christ and His patience, gentleness, and caring with all I come in contact.

What approach do you take with those who have differing opinions? Are you prone to holding onto what you believe is “right” and lead into quarreling and arguments? What if you were to provide patience, caring, and gentleness in the situations in order to present the glory of God and drive toward understanding in the interest of repentance?

When I have done wrong, I am prone asking for forgiveness and looking for repentance. But, from and for who am I asking forgiveness and repentance.

“⁹As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. ¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” — 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (ESV)

Per my ESV Commentary: “Grief that comes from God is characterized by repentance, i.e., remorse caused by having lost God’s approval and the consequent resolve to reverse one’s conduct and live for God. Grief that comes from the world, i.e., a remorse brought about by losing the world’s approval, leads to a resolve to regain that approval, and this produces death, or divine judgment.”

I am to be looking for forgiveness and repentance from God and the sins against Him that I have committed. What wrongs I have committed against the world and society, as long as they are in line with God’s will, are of no consequence. I should not concern myself with those and focus my attention on that which is for and from God.

Now, I want to be clear in that focusing on my repentance for God does not mean that I have free reign to treat others without concern for them. I am still bound, as I mentioned above, to living a life in line with God’s will. I am still tasked with spreading the gospel and loving everyone. The thing is that if there is a conflict in the seeking of forgiveness and repenting from and to the world or God, God wins out, hands down.

God’s is the only one that can provide forgiveness for sins. Even with my salvation, I am still a sinner and must repent regularly for those sins and “reverse one’s conduct and live for God”. I have to repent to Him and concern myself with my relationship and action with/for Him as opposed to the worry of what is going on in the world and what it thinks of me.

Where are you concerning yourself related to your repentance and forgiveness seeking? Are you concerning yourself with what others and the world thinks as you are working to do the will of God? What if you concerned yourself with repentance for God and doing His will as opposed to what the world thinks?

“³Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” — Romans 2:3-4 (ESV)

Paul is so right in his letter. We in society expect things based on what we want or more accurately, what we desire. There is little true seeking of things that are in line with the will and example of God (or maybe I am just not seeing it as I am blinded by all of the chaos). Man is in a constant state of passing judgment on others that seeing the wrong in our own lives is not happening.

“³Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” — Matthew 7:3-5 (ESV)

Jesus spoke these words and Paul reiterated them in his letter to the Romans. There is too much judging of others and not enough looking at self. It is important for me to first take a look at myself and where I am in my relationship with Christ before, and really not at all, I take into account where others are.

It is important for us to look inward prior to looking outward. I have to remember that in order to effectively help and aid others in the name of Christ, I have to get myself right with Him first. When I am in closer concert with Him, I will then be able to do His will in my life and positively impact the lives of others. I recently met with a friend that is going through a difficult patch. Whereas the circumstances are a significant challenge, I had to remember not to try and fix it. I was able to provide advice based on my challenges and only offer that and prayer for God’s love as they worked through the difficulty. I wanted them to know, and hope that I made it clear, that God and I love them and will lift them up to deal with this. I did not hold them to a different standard than I and only offered support.

Too often we want to “fix” or “help” someone else and where that is a noble cause and jester, it may not be what is really needed. Before we can help others, we must seek help in our own lives. We are not to judge, only to love. What we spread, we will receive back so does it not make sense to spread God’s love?

What is your approach when seeing others and their challenges? Are you finding yourself in a position of judging them? What if we sought repentance and redemption in our own lives and relationships with Christ as opposed to judging others and their relationship with Him?

For good, permanently, never to return. All of these seem extreme. Well to repent, they are necessary. It is one thing to ask for forgiveness, and something else to be repentant. Repentance is being sorrowful and regretful for that which was done. There is the feeling that wrongdoing had occurred. For forgiveness, there is a seeking from another to understand and say it is okay for the actions taken or not.

As I read this morning in Acts of Paul speaking to the Ephesian elders, I see that he was leaving them. He was giving a final charge and letting them know that he would not “see” them again as he understood the direction he was headed. He would likely meet dire consequences for moving on, and wanted them to know that it was necessary anyway. Paul had given and would continue to give for the good of others. He was dedicated to the spreading of the gospel and would not apologize for it. He was leaving for the good of others to continue spreading God’s word.

I know, this seems as though I am rambling and how does it fit with repentance and leaving and spreading God’s word. Well here is my attempt to speak it in understanding. I have a duty to God and that duty begins with repentance. I have to fully turn away from where I am and turn to God.

“²¹testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Acts 20:21 (ESV)

Here Paul is telling the elders of the turning toward God. I have to remember that my eyes are to remain on Him and that means that they cannot be on what is behind me, my past and failure to Him. I have to make a permanent split from my old ways and move on to live with God. I may have to move on physically and leave behind others in the name of Christ and His glory. I may have to make that permanent split from a current location never to return for I am moving forward for His glory.

Repentance is about permanence, for good, always, and forever. I have to move forward and away from the past fully and devote to God as I do so in order not to allow my eyes to turn back.

What have you asked for forgiveness for only to return to the same actions later? Are you simply asking someone to say it is okay and they understand? What if you were to look forward, repent and expect that it is permanent and for good and for always?