It’s summertime. Hard to believe, but we are already at the halfway point of 2010! Time just flies, don’t you agree? No doubt we’ve attended a graduation ceremony or party in the last few weeks. And we wonder where all the time has gone.
Our oldest son, Caleb, graduated from Garaway High School last weekend; it is so hard to believe. I remember the day we brought him home from the hospital. It was exciting and thrilling. Like most Dads, I remember thinking it would be great when he could crawl, then walk, stop wearing diapers, talk, and on and on and on.
Now you are sitting at their graduation, where they get a reward for the work they’ve done these last 12 years. The amazing thing is that it is set, and they can’t go back and make things different. Distractions in high school are huge and they are everywhere. Those who stay focused and work hard reap the rewards of scholarships and getting into the school of their choice. While watching them receive their diplomas to the famous tune “Pomp and Circumstance,” I was thinking about another kind of graduation – from school days to summer.
Summer marks the beginning of off-season workout sessions for many high school athletes. There is a saying that players are made in the off-season, and revealed in the season. Again, there will be plenty of distractions. Whether the academic world or the sports world, the big question is, “Do I want to pay now and play later, or play now and pay later”? Those are the only two choices, and so it is in life.
In The Law of Rewards, Randy Alcorn writes, “While our faith determines our eternal destination, our behavior determines our eternal rewards.” The Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by God’s grace, through personal faith in Christ, apart from any works whatever (Eph 2:8-9). But it also teaches, with equal clarity, that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that we may be recompensed for what we have done in the body, whether good or bad (2 Cor 5:10). This judgment, which is only for believers, is not to determine whether or not we are saved. Its purpose is to evaluate our works and determine whether we shall receive, or lose, eternal rewards (1 Cor 3:10-15).
Alcorn writes, “Our works are what we have done with our resources—time, energy, talents, money, possessions.” The apostle Paul describes our works as a building project. At the judgment seat of Christ the quality of our work will be tested with fire. If we have used quality building materials (gold, silver, precious stones) then our work will endure, and we will be rewarded by the Lord. If we have used poor building materials (in this case, wood, hay, or straw) then our work will be consumed, and we will suffer the loss of rewards (1 Cor. 3:10-15).
So, there are important questions that need to be asked:
- What are we doing with the resources that God has entrusted to us?
- Are we seeking to build God’s kingdom, in God’s way, empowered by God’s Spirit?
- Are we merely engaged in empire-building for our own glory?
- Are we investing our resources in reaching the world for Christ, making disciples, and helping the poor and needy?
- Are we only concerned with satisfying our own immediate wants and desires?
Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first"
(Mark 10:29-31).
So in the school of life, which one day we will all graduate from, Jesus teaches us that there are two keys that determine everything about our eternity. The first key is your belief or your faith. It unlocks the door to reward and determines where you will spend eternity. The second key is your behavior or your works. It unlocks the door to reward and determines how you will spend eternity.
When we understand this, we begin to live with an unshakable certainty that everything we do today matters forever. So we each have 3 choices when it comes to our summer – waste it, spend it, or invest it. Have a great summer.
