A Just Reward

August 25, 2026August 24, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

Over time, I’ve known Christians who at times, while sure of their faith and salvation, wonder what’s the point of serving God in this world? Salvation comes through faith, not works, right? What else is there to gain by Christian service, they ask? Therefore, it becomes harder to serve.

Others might be diligently serving God, yet don’t see any results from their work. In their eyes, it may not look like the ones they serve are benefitting. It may not look like anyone is noticing their service and cares about it. Maybe their motivation is getting harder to come by.

In situations like these, it helps to be reminded of the justice of God… Justice? What does that have to do with it? Let me explain. Too often we think of God’s justice only in the sense that He cannot help but punish every evil act. However, the epistle to the Hebrews reminds us that there is another side to God’s justice:

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” – Hebrews 6:10

This verse tells us that it would be an injustice for God to not reward us for the good that we do. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God no longer judges us for our sins, but nothing has happened to separate us from the other side of God’s justice! While not punishing evil would be unjust, so would not rewarding good.

The verse also tells us that God doesn’t “overlook” anything that we do in love, “in serving the saints.” While we may not see the fruit God is growing through us, or feel we are contributing, or receive recognition for our actions, God knows about it and is not unjust. While He removes our sin from us “as far as the east is from the west,” (Psalm 103:12) He remembers every act of love we do, as small as sharing a cup of water with a thirsty child (Matthew 10:42).

The Bible isn’t clear about how each person will be rewarded differently in heaven, but it is clear that for everyone heaven will be amazing and wonderful beyond anything we could imagine, and also clear that not everyone will get the same level of reward. See, for example, the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.

So, what’s the point of serving God in this world if it doesn’t affect our salvation, and if we aren’t seeing any current results? Why bother? The point is first, that it’s the right thing to do, but second, that God is just and will reward us in eternity.

As Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Our service on this earth for God is like an investment in the treasures of heaven, and these investments made in love are safer than any investments you can make in this world because the reward is based on God’s character, and God is just.

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

The Part of Us That Matters

June 24, 2026June 23, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

The Apostle Paul wrote an amazing contrast in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, which says:

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

On the one hand, there are things that are transient, described as: outer, wasting away, light, momentary, affliction, and seen.

On the other hand, what is eternal is: inner, being renewed, weighty, glorious, beyond all comparison, and unseen.

These things are part of each of us, but what is eternal matters infinitely more than the other. Don’t confuse the two, or you may lose heart because Paul earlier assured us in verse 14 that “he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” At that time, only what is eternal will remain.

Amen.

Who We Shall Be

June 18, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

The apostle Peter wasn’t always a follower of Jesus. He also wasn’t always Peter; he was originally named Simon. He got his new name when his brother Andrew took him to meet Jesus. Andrew “brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).’” (John 1:42).

Something that stands out in Jesus’ words are the phrases “You are,” and “You shall be.” It’s as if Jesus saw 2 people: the one Simon was, and Peter that Simon would be. The Simon of the present and the Peter of the future. Jesus knew there was work to be done with this Simon who would become His disciple, but He also knew that the work would be completed. It was inevitable that Simon would become Peter, the rock, which is what the name Peter means. Cephas also means rock in Aramaic, but Peter is the Greek name we know him by.

But in the meantime, Peter was going to be a work in progress, like all of us. Jesus sees everyone as they “are” and as they “shall be.” He sees the raw material and He sees what it will take to finish each competed work of art. Jesus takes us as we are, begins our transformation there, and will complete it in eternity.

Revelation 2:17 says of believers: “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” This new name represents our future, eternal identity. The person we will be when God is finished with His work of creation in us, the person Jesus sees in us, but that is beyond our wildest imagination. C.S. Lewis wrote that believers will “one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.” This is how completely we will be changed and conformed to the image and likeness of God that He intended for us from the beginning.[1]

So, if you ever feel disappointed in yourself, if you feel unworthy of God’s attention, if you wonder how God could love someone like you, remember: God sees who you “are” and who “you shall be.” And who “you shall be” is beautiful beyond what we can imagine, but not beyond what He can see.

“You are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).”

[1] Genesis 1:26-27

From the Ruins of Rome

June 8, 2026June 7, 2026Todd R 2 Comments

I really enjoy travelling when I can and one of my favorite places is Bath, England, which I’ve visited twice. Bath is almost a 3-hour drive west of London and a great place to spend a weekend. The relatively consistent Georgian architecture in the city is amazing, there are lots of interesting shops to visit, including along the Pulteney Bridge, and certainly a lot of history. What the city is really known for, and what it is named for, are the Roman Baths that have been there for about 2,000 years.

^{A photo of the Roman Baths I took in 2022.}

Built by the Romans around AD 60 and in use until about the 5^th century, the Roman Baths are a symbol of the geographical breadth and technological achievement of the Roman Empire, the greatest civilization the world had ever seen. Britain was about as far away from Rome one could go and still be in the Empire, and the city was almost like a resort for Roman soldiers to help them deal with being stationed so far from home. The Romans believed the hot waters of the baths contained magical blessings from the goddess Sulis, and much later in the Victorian Era, the British would drink the hot spring water believing it had healing properties.

The baths themselves were an impressive engineering accomplishment for the time. In addition to a complex series of baths and springs, a temple was built alongside to facilitate the worship of Sulis and other gods. One of the most amazing things you learn when visiting the baths is that many of the pools were lined by the Romans with interlocking copper tiles, and that many of these are still waterproof today!

But, as great as Rome was, and the baths were, it is now just ruins. The gods worshiped at the baths are mostly forgotten by the modern world. Over time, the Roman Baths were completely abandoned and buried, only rediscovered centuries later. The springs were used in the early 1700s, but much of what we can now see of the Roman Baths was not excavated until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but they remain in ruins.

^{The view of the Abbey from the Baths in 2022.}

What I like better about visiting Bath is what you see when you look up from the Roman Baths: Bath Abbey, one of my favorite buildings. Like the stone from Daniel’s vision that destroyed the image of this world’s kingdoms and “became a mountain that filled the while earth”[1], the Abbey to me symbolizes the expansion of God’s eternal church, and when you look up at the Abbey from within the baths, it almost seems to have risen right out of the ruins.

Mankind likes to celebrate our achievements, our breadth of knowledge and technological achievement, but the view of the Abbey from the ruins of the Roman Baths reminds us that all human civilization will one day be less than ruins. Even Bath Abbey won’t last forever, but the church it represents will, in a new earth. God will discard this world, which will “wear out like a garment” and He will “change them like a robe.”[2] Starting over, God will create a new, perfect world where all of our accomplishments will seem as nothing in comparison, and where we will be able to create even more amazing things as reborn children of God, giving God all the glory.

Until then, thinking of Bath, England reminds me that everything we see here is temporary, no matter how impressive it seems. That all of our work here should be done for the glory of God, as it will be in heaven. That everything man accomplishes here won’t last, but that God’s church is eternal.

Amen.

[1] Daniel 2:35
[2] Psalm 102:26

The Work of Our Hands

April 27, 2026April 25, 2026Todd R Leave a comment

Psalm 90 is the only one out of 150 that was written by Moses. Psalm 90 is also the first in book 4 of the Psalms, which some say carries many of the themes and ideas from the 4^th book of the Pentateuch, the book of Numbers. That book tells of the consequences of Israel’s disobedience and grumbling on their journey to the Promised Land. The nation of Israel spent 40 years wandering, seemingly aimlessly, in the wilderness and only Joshua and Caleb from the prior generation actually entered the Promised Land.

As noted in a recent post, the Psalm begins by saying we are only home when we are with God, but the Psalm ends with this petition to God for us:

“Let your work be shown to your servants,
            and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
            and establish the work of our hands upon us;
            yes, establish the work of our hands!”

It may seem easy, or even natural, to just go with the flow of our surrounding cultures while in this world, but that would really be like wandering in the wilderness instead of getting God’s promised blessing. Instead, do we seek that God’s “work be shown to your servants,” and that He “establish the work of our hands upon us”? Do we seek “the favor of the Lord,” and experience His “glorious power”? This is what Moses asks for in this prayer, that we find our purpose in Him by doing His work. We all have “worldly” responsibilities we need to take care of in this world, but none of them are the ultimate goal.

In other words, the best way to spend our short lives here is to do work that matters in eternity, which God has laid out for us to do:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10
“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.” – Moses, in Psalm 90:12

Driving Toward the Morning Sun

What "Not Yet" Means for "Now"

Tag Eternity