The Olympic athletes preparing to compete, are recognised internationally for their sporting abilities and also compensated financially for medals earned. There are also endorsements that extend for a period of time. Expenses are paid and some will even get pocket money.
All these prizes are amazing! I honestly wouldn’t mind them, but how long does this last?
These are earthly rewards. Although very nice to have, how far do they take you and where and when will it all run out. Do we measure prizes in monetary and material value?
These are questions we must consider as Christ-followers. The Lord’s disciples had very little and even less while they followed Him. He wasn’t handing out prizes for being with Him, but He did give liberally of His words, His wisdom, and His love.
Here are some of His words that we can rely on to keep our eyes fixed on THE Prize.
Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.
The writer tells us to run with patient endurance. To keep going from start to finish with our eyes fixed on Jesus. In Greek, the word patience, is Hupomone, which in this verse relates to being ‘steadfast’; being a man or woman who is not swayed from their purpose and their loyalty to faith by even the greatest trials and sufferings’; ‘to be constant’.
It means we need to keep going despite what we see in the natural and to keep our faith fixed on Jesus. He determines our path and it is not in vain. He knew the pain He would endure for us yet He still did it. And, now He is at the right hand of God. So the Lord wants us to see that our trials here on earth will only be for a time, because very soon He will come to handpick us to be seated with Him.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
I absolutely love this passage of scripture because it has so much depth and truth in its core. When Shaun and I were in a dark valley period, it was hard to read about ‘ long months of drought’. We questioned when those months or years would be over? Lord? But the Lord says that we are already blessed because we trust in Him. He is the one who is our hope and confidence. Roots of a tree are not easily plucked out, so for the writer to describe us as roots, means we are in deep with God! He is with us in the valley and with us on the mountain tops.
Producing fruit will not necessarily benefit you. This gospel of grace is for us to be effective to all around us. We had such an amazing journey in those dry seasons, discovering more of God and uncovering what He wanted us to do for others. We never stopped producing fruit for Him and His glory. When it’s your season for fruit, it will surely come. In the meantime, keep sowing and planting and watering those seeds that God has placed in your hands.
Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Waiting can be agonizing, trust me I know! Why does God always want us to wait? What is in the waiting? If you can do anything Lord, why do we have to wait….?
There is a humility and sense of surrender in waiting – that’s why. We wait because He wants us to trust fully in Him. In the Hebrew 12 passage, it says, “the weight that slows us down..” These are things surround us that so easily distract us from keeping our eyes on Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate prize in life. We wait because we love Him. We wait because we trust that He holds our future. We wait because He gives direction. We wait for answers to scary questions. We wait to hear what’s next, Lord? We wait to know. Who is next Lord? We wait for Him, to hold our hand in this life. The earth shall pass away, but His Words never will.
As a Christ-follower, I love that He is our ultimate prize in life – no matter what we have done or not done. His words give us truth, life and help us find a way to live in this temporary world.
Jesus is our reward, what a privilege to know Him.
Wait on the Lord, again I say – Wait!
– Rhonal Rampersad