A Great Reward
Today’s Verse:
When I think of a reward, what comes to my mind is compensation for finding something or someone that is missing. Law enforcement agencies will offer a substantial reward that leads to the finding and arrest of a wanted criminal. People who lose a valuable item offer a reward for its finding. This morning, let us see how Abraham received the reward of faith.
We see the derivation.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Faith arises where the Word of God is received. We read that the Word of the Lord came to Abraham in vv. 1, 4, 7, and 18. In v. 17, the Lord came to him as a burning lamp. God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We need God’s Word to move us to acts and prayers of faith. We need God’s Word to strengthen our faith. God’s Word is truth. God’s Word can be trusted. God’s Word is the means for building our faith. By faith, Abraham obeyed God, left his father’s country, and looked for a country whose builder and maker is God.
We see the design.
Faith is the foundation for our salvation. In v. 6, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Faith is the essential action on our part for our salvation. Paul said, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.” Paul told the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” His exceeding great reward was his salvation.
We see the diagnostic.
Faith has to be tested. God appeared to Abraham as a smoking furnace. A furnace is symbolic of trials and testing. God told Abraham that He was Abraham’s shield. Faith is our shield against the fiery darts of the wicked one. Our faith is tested to see what is inside of us. The fiery trials are God’s gifts to purify us. The purest gold and silver are those which have gone through intense heat and fire. Peter said, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). His exceeding great reward was to be found unto praise and honor before the Lord.
We see the diligence.
Faith must be exercised through prayer. “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6b). Faith praying is earnest praying. Faith praying is essential praying. It is praying for things that only God can do. Abraham was rewarded for his prayers. One time, he prayed for God to withhold His hand of judgment against two wicked cities if ten righteous people could be found in them: God said He would! Another time, he prayed for God to open the barren wombs of the Philistine king’s wife and the women in that household: God did! He waited on God in prayer. Faith and prayer go hand in hand. Jesus said, “This kind cometh not forth but by prayer and fasting.” The exceeding great reward in faith is answered prayer.
Are you living out the rewards of faith? Let God be your exceeding great reward through a life of faith!
Have a faith-filled God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Chronicles 21-24