It is instructive to consider how valuable the reward that God promises is by considering the comparisons that are made to that reward in the Scriptures. Another way to consider this would be to think how large would the loss be if the work we do is not elgible for reward or what would someone possibly exchange for that reward? The Scriptures give us some indication as to the worth of the reward via some interesting comparisons.
- Moses turned down the riches of Egypt and decided instead to suffer insult on behalf of the the coming Messiah – a very worthy comparison indeed!
- In the parable of the young rich ruler, everything he had (called great possessions) could not be compared to the reward. Jesus’ offer to follow him was greater than this.
- Hebrews tells us of people who suffered the loss of much due to the great recompense of reward that is to come
- Jesus compared the value of following him and losing his soul in service to being better than gaining the whole world in this life – the reward will be greater than a person losing his whole life
- Paul counted everything in this life as loss for the sake of Christ- he knew the value of the reward would be greater than this
Many times people give up because they do not get anything back right away and yet we are told to not expect anything when we serve. This gives us an additional indication of the value of the reward. All of these considerations provide a very interesting summary to us of just how valuable the reward that awaits us will be. We may not know the nature of what that reward will be but we can certainly gain a glimpse of its value by what the Scriptures say.