“⁴⁰Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ⁴¹The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴²And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” – Matthew 10:40-42 (ESV)

I am continuing my study of the word “disciple” and this morning I am still in Matthew 10 as Jesus is directly speaking to, instructing, and guiding His disciples. A disciple can only be like his teacher as Jesus indicates when speaking to them (Matthew 10:24-25a). And that carries forward in the rewards that are received as a result of being a disciple and doing the work of Christ.

In the above verses, we see that as we do the work of Christ, we are working on His behalf and we are received as Christ is received. We are treated as Christ is treated. And we are rewarded as Christ is rewarded.

The reward that we receive is as Christ would receive for the work. That reward could be persecution or consolation. Either way, we can expect a “shared” reward with Christ. The reward is shared as remember, we are like Jesus and as such we receive as He receives. We do not share our reward with Christ in the sense that we are allowing Him a portion of our reward, we receive a share of His reward for being disciples of Jesus.

I am embarking on a discipleship journey this week to be more like Christ every day. I had not really thought of being rewarded as a share of Christ’s reward until reading and studying this morning. I am proud to be a follower of Christ and have a better understanding of my reward as a result. My reward is not my own, but a share of the reward of Christ.

What is your thought on the reward you receive? Are you looking at things from the selfish side and the reward is all yours? What if you approached the work you do for Christ as being his disciple and knowing that the reward you receive is a share of the reward He receives?