What comes to your mind when you think of reward?
Money, trophies, a great place to live, safety, prestige?
All of those things are lovely except trophies have to be dusted, money disappears quickly, a great place to live needs upkeep, safety…well, that’s nice but lacks adventure, and with prestige comes responsibility.
Yet, we all love rewards. It’s nice to have something to work towards, isn’t it?
It’s been another difficult week for the world. Christians martyred, American journalist beheaded, another famous comedians death, and that’s just on the world scale. I have no idea what has happened in your life this week, but I don’t doubt one second that somebody or many bodies reading this post have faced tragic, life changing events.
I always want to help people in these circumstances, but sometimes there is just nothing to say.
I remember a painful moment in my life when I desperately wanted to comfort my mom suffering with Alzheimer’s. She spent most of her days confused and angry; her personality had changed, and my step-dad could no longer take care of her. We had moved her into assisted living that weekend. Moving in went well, but after we left, she realized what had happened, and she was stinkin’ hot mad.
The next day my sister drove me to the airport in Dallas to fly back to Boston where my family was living. On the way, we stopped to check on Mom and say goodbye.
She was still livid. Pacing back and forth she wailed and shouted, cursed, and cried. My mother, who faithfully played the piano in a tiny Methodist church every Sunday, never cursed a day in her life until this disease took her sweet, gentle spirit. To calm her I said, “Mom, this won’t last forever.”
She looked up at me with hopeful eyes. For a brief moment her tirade halted.
How I wished I would’ve left it at that, but her questioning eyes beckoned an explanation.
“Mom, there’s heaven.” I quipped.
The brief silence was shattered by her angry cries. She huffed around continuing where she had left off.
Heaven.
Some days I can’t wait for it. Other days, I’ve got too many plans to go home yet. Though heaven is our reward, the Bible refers to more.
I think all of us could probably use a little reminder of our hope. I pray that if the world feels heavy on your shoulders, this week’s Bite of Bread Reading Plan will help you [tweetability]look forward to our future, not only heaven, but our reward.[/tweetability]
Which I believe is Jesus Himself.
Enjoy each morsel of hope my friends. I’m reading with you. Join our community on my Facebook Page and share your thoughts on each day’s bite.
With Joy,
