Continuing from yesterday... Do you want to finish well? The second thing you and I have to do is:
#2. Remember the Reward.
Remember the reward that God has out there in front of us. You cannot run the race well without an eye on the finish line. If you’re going to finish well in life you have to remind yourself why we do what we do. Otherwise you’re going to end up thinking, “Why even make the effort?”
The “why?” behind what you do determine shows how long you’re going to last in what you do. If the “why?” is immediate gratification, you’re going to last for five minutes. The only “why” behind what we do that makes us last all the way through life, through some of the tough things you have to face in life is the eternal reward that God will give to us.
So when you feel like giving up, when you feel like you’re not going to make it, sometimes the only thing that will get you through is to say to yourself “My faith will be rewarded.” In fact, that is so important I am going to ask you to write it down. My faith will be reward – I have to keep on. I can’t quit. I can’t give up!
1 Corinthians 9:25-26 in the Living Bible says “To win the contest you must deny yourself many things that would keep you from doing your best. We do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. A heavenly reward, personally rewarded by God.”
Think about this: if you’re having a tough day at work about the middle of the day what happens? You start thinking about the way you’re going to reward yourself on the way home. If you’re having a tough week you think at least there’s the weekend. I'm going to do something different on the weekend. If you’re having a tough year you start thinking, "At least I’ve got vacation.”
What do you do when you’re having a tough life? What do you do when the weekend isn’t long enough to help you make it through, there’s no vacation good enough to give you hope in life? There are many times in life when the only strength that’s big enough to help you make it through to know you can finish well, to encourage you in tough times is knowing that God has a reward that is out there for us personally given to us.
We look at ourselves sometimes and think, “Why can’t I get motivated today?” Sometimes the reason is you need a higher motivation. The next paycheck, the next business opportunity is not enough to motivate you any more. You need the motivation that can come only from the reward that God will give as we are faithful to Him. Not external motivation or internal motivation but the eternal motivation that keeps you going forever.
That’s one of the reasons during this spiritual growth campaign, The ME I Want to Be, we’re memorizing a different verse, a different promise, from God’s word each week. These promises help you have hope and faith in tough times.
Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not get tired of doing what is right for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.” Could any of you use this verse in your life? ABSOLUTELY! That’s a verse you can build your life on!
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!
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