Thursday – Letters

Reading – 1 Corinthians 3-4

Highlight Verse:

“So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s easy to think of this as describing God judging us to see what punishment suits our sins.

That may be the kind of judgement we are warned about making ahead of time. But the judgement we see God make here is closer to that of judging a talent contest as a perfectly impartial judge.

The judgement for our sins was taken care of once and for all at the cross.

But the Bible tells us that we will be rewarded for the good we did on Earth (Matthew 6:18).

That reminds me of the story of the Pastor and the taxi driver who died on the same day and went to heaven. Saint Peter showed them their houses next to each other.

The Pastor’s house was nice. It was good sized and and comfortable.

Next door, there was a mansion with a swimming pool, game room, home theater – all the bells and whistles.

The Pastor asked Saint Peter whose house that was.

He replied, “That’s the taxi driver’s home.”

Perplexed, the Pastor asked, “Why did a taxi driver get a mansion while I got this?”

Without skipping a beat, Peter told him, “That man’s driving scared more people into repenting than your sermons ever did.”

Of course, that story is more amusing than theologically accurate. But it reminds us that while our sin is taken care of, God will give us each a reward according to what we did and didn’t do.

Personally, I think the greatest reward would be to have my family and friends join me in heaven.

What do you imagine our heavenly reward will be?
What do you think God looks at when evaluating our lives?