Wages
"Equal pay for equal work." Everyone wants to get fair compensation
- and a big bonus at Christmastime. Employment with even the best company
can still leave us wanting more, but God's benefit plan is better than
fair. Not only did Jesus pay our debt (death is the compensation we really
deserve), but he also blesses us for our obedience to him. Unlike our
current paychecks, which we can't take with us after we die, God's rewards
will last forever.
Yes,
it's sometimes difficult to live for God, but consider the other option:
The wages for a life ill invested and lived apart from God is an eternity
spent apart from him.
The
wages of sin (see Sin) is death (see Death). Sinful thoughts, choices
and actions always result in the death os something, particularly relationships.
Matthew 16:26
Romans 3:8; 6:3
2 Peter 2:15
People don't get into heaven because they earn it like a person
earns a paycheck. Faith (see Faith) in God's Son, Jesus Christ, is credited
to us as a lifetime of righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
Romans 4:4, 18-24
If we are persecuted for our faithfulness to God, we will be rewarded
in heaven.
Matthew 5:12
Luke 6:23
1 Corinthians 3:14
In terms of jobs, employers are told to pay their workers a just
wage without cheating them.
Leviticus 19:13
James 5:4
Those in Christian ministry should be cared for financially as
their wage for serving God and others.
Luke 10:7
1 Timothy 5:18
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