The Letters from Roscoe

Get Your Full Reward!

2 John 1 v. 8 KJV

⁸ Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

The apostle John wrote these words about 90 AD.  He was warning the faithful to be aware of those who didn’t believe in Christ, those who were false teachers or ‘anti-christs’.  But as I was reading these verses this morning I stopped at the phrase ‘. . . that we receive a full reward’ and it gave me pause to stop and think. 

Many who don’t believe in God or His Son Jesus Christ believe that we Christians are in pursuit of a ‘Reward’ that comes only at the ‘end’ of our lives when we get to go to Heaven. 

But they are wrong.  They are thinking only of that reward that comes ‘after’ this life.

They are not seeing the ‘full reward’ that the Apostle John spoke of.  You see, the act of being a Christian – of being a devoted follower of God is not for some reward that comes at the end of our lives as payment for unending days of religious services, toil and labors.  It is a reward that begins on the very first day that you give your life to Christ – the moment that you dedicate yourself to God.  From there on it is an experience that never ends.

It is a lifetime of love.  That shouldn’t be a surprise.  Jesus spoke often of love.  In fact He quoted the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22 v. 37-40

³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.
³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

If you live a life of love like Jesus tells us, what unhappiness can there be?  If you love your neighbor and do him good by helping him whenever you can, what harm can come to you from that?  Have you ever given a secret gift to someone who had a need and been able to watch from afar the joy the gift generated as that need was met?  I have.  And even those times when I was unable to see the joy first hand, the feeling it left in my heart made me dance for joy.

It is a life of humility.  I understand now that there is nothing I have done or ever will do that was not given to me by the grace of God.  He gave me the skills to write this letter.  In fact he gives me the words.  Everything in my life is a gift from Him.  No matter how highly I may think of myself I understand that it is only through his strength and his love that I live.  And you know something?  I am happy with that.

It is a life without Guilt.  Those without God have moments of happiness but then the baggage of ‘troubles’ that they have drug with them throughout their lives steals that joy.  It pulls them back down and away from the happiness and contentment of God’s everlasting love.  The further they go in life, the heavier that bag becomes.  Full of guilt and remorse for a lifetime of mistakes.  No.  Not everything was a mistake, but there were some errors or times when we fell short of the life that God wants us to live. 

Wouldn’t you like to just be able to drop that bag and NOT have to pick it up again?

It is a life of forgiveness.  As a follower of Christ I can talk to Him about my problems.  When they are too much for me to handle, I can leave them with Him.  If I’ve sinned or committed a wrong doing I can ask for His forgiveness and rely on His love to receive it.  Every day I can go to Him and repent for those times I’ve missed the mark and by the way that happens every day.  No matter what I do, I will never be Jesus.  I can only try to be as loving as he is.

It is a life of peace.  As I live this life of love, without guilt, being able to forgive and to be forgiven I enjoy a peace that surpasses all human understanding.  It is the peace of knowing that my God who loves me and takes care of me will never leave or forsake me.

It is a life of hope.  As each new day dawns it often brings with it a new ache a new pain or something else that just doesn’t work like it used to.  The unbeliever sees an end to this slow decay at death when everything will just . . . end. 

But not me. 

I have hope and my faith makes it a certainty.  After this, when this body is worn out, I will get to join my creator who has drawn me to Him all of my life.  Jeremiah 1:3 states.

³ The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

I have heard first-hand from a fellow Christian who died and came back.  But while he was there, he felt that love wrapped around them like a blanket.  I cannot wait to experience it myself one day.

What have I had to give up to obtain this wonderful life? 

Nothing. 

I continue to enjoy every day of my life.  I have friends that I enjoy spending time with.  I know that they care deeply about me.  In fact, I know that they love me.  I serve the Lord.  I serve my Church.  I serve others around me whenever and however I can.  I have asked Him to be my personal Lord and Saviour.

And about the reward that comes after this life?  I believe 1 Corinthians 2 v. 9 pretty much says it all.

⁹ But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.