REWARD FOR TOIL!

Verse for Today: Thursday, March 24, 2011

We are introduced to the Lord as the only righteous Master who wants to give us the privilege to work in His vineyard. It is a vineyard which produces sweet and enjoyable fruit. He has plenty for us to do in His field. He doesn’t want us to work without reward. He has enough rewards to give to us. Working in His vineyard itself is a great privilege and very rewarding because He is not a task master, but a benevolent Master. He promises a reward for all that we do in His field. He also guarantees that He will give what is right at the end of the day. He is a righteous Master and so will not give what is not fair or acceptable. He would not give according to the rates paid by other masters around. The ‘sin master’ will only give more and more guilt and frustration. The ‘world master’ will give vanity which looks like a colorful balloon, but will soon loose all its shape and beauty when the air is gone. The ‘flesh master’ will give temporary gratification of our fleshly desires, and will leave us with more and more fleshly cravings and we will finally become a slave to such desires. But the Lord is a benevolent Master. He will give us the right and richest reward at the end of the day. It is not according to the prevailing rate of the world, but according to a Heavenly rate which will be more than sufficient for all eternity. When He gives us the reward, we will be fully satisfied. He gives according to His grace and on the basis of His abundant resources. But it is interesting to see that while we work in the vineyard, all our needs are met. We are paid not according to the number of hours that we put in. Our reward is not on the basis of doing a particular work only, but for doing whatever that we can do for Him in His vineyard on the basis of right motive of service to the Master. How blessed are we because we are invited to work in the vineyard of this great, benevolent and righteous Master!

Dear friend, are you a worker in the vineyard of the Great Master? If not, you are commanded to go and work with a promise of a rich reward. It is not important whether you are a full time or part time worker. It is also not important at what time you started, nor what kind of work you will do for the Master. There are long lists of things that need to be done in the vineyard, and you are expected to do what you can on the basis of the gifts and abilities that He has given you. Any thing that you will do for the Master will not go unrewarded or unrecognized. All your needs will be met as you work for Him, and at the end of the day there will be a reward awaiting you. It will be the right reward that you deserve for your toil for the Master. But when you see the Master in His full glory, it will be difficult to think that you will keep for yourself all the rewards that you receive from Him, but will put it all at His feet and praise Him because of the greatness and glory of the Master. When you find out how glorious this Master who hired you is, you probably feel sorry for yourself that you have not done enough for Him or that you didn’t start early enough. Perhaps there are attractions for you to serve your own flesh, this world and Satan. But you are admonished to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness in whatever you desire. If you seek all that is eternal and renounce what is temporal, your temporal needs will be met and you will be led to finish the task that you are called upon to do here on earth. Then a glorious day of rewards will dawn on you and you will be ushered into the presence of your Master who will call you by name and recognize you for all the toil that you have undergone for the Master in His vineyard. You will then be given your rewards for your hard work, toil, tears, sweat, deprivation, persecution and persistence as you labored for the Master in His vineyard. But remember, the time for you to work in this vineyard will soon be over and an evening will be dawned on you to stop work and receive reward. How prepared are you for it? Are you waiting in anticipation for that day of rewards which will be settled by the righteous Master who will appear in His full glory?

Ruth 2:12 – “May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge”.