Temporal Rewards for Those Who Serve God
by Charles R. Swindoll
I'll be candid with you. I have never read anywhere else in the Bible what God revealed to me in 2 Corinthians:
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. (2 Corinthians 4:10–11 NIV)
Do you observe the temporal reward woven into the lines of those verses? It is this: the quiet awareness that the life of Christ is being modeled.
That is part of what Paul meant when he wrote, that the life of Jesus "may also be revealed in our mortal body." Frankly, I know of few more satisfying and encouraging rewards than the deep realization that our actions (and the motives behind them) are visible expressions of Christ to others.
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
(2 Corinthians 4:15 NIV)
It's not hidden. The Lord comes up front and says that when you and I take the role of a servant, there is the joyful realization that a thankful spirit is being stimulated.
And, please notice in verse 15; God gets the glory. It overflows!
Adapted from Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living, Copyright © 1981 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.
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