4 Ways To Invest In Eternity

– John Hagee

Devotional: 4 Ways To Invest In Eternity

Forward Your Rewards

We can invest in things on earth, but we must realize that it’s all going to burn up some day, including everything on it (2 Pet 3:10), or we can invest in the things of God and have our rewards awaiting us in the kingdom someday. You won’t likely be rewarded for all you do in this life, so why not send it ahead or forward it to an address marked “heaven”? It is just too easy to get caught up in the world in which we live. Our daily focus tends to be on having sufficient funds to pay the bills or having enough money for retirement, but the greatest rewards for the believer come after we have lived this life on earth and enter into the eternal kingdom of God. Every one of us will appear before Christ to receive rewards, or the lack thereof, as to whether they were burned up or not (2 Cor 5:10).

Who Is It For?

Paul wrote a lot about rewards. There is nothing wrong with receiving rewards in the kingdom, but we must examine our motives for doing these good works. If they are done to be seen by men or women, we will receive our rewards right then and there (Matt 6:1, 5; 23:5), and there will be nothing more when we are before the Lord because each one of us will receive rewards “according to our labor” (1 Cor 3:8) or, in other words, according to what our true motivation is. Is it so that others will think a lot about us, or will it be done for the Lord? If we do it only so that others will think highly of us, then we don’t have the right motivation, but God rewards those who do things in secret that can be seen only by God (Matt 6:6, 18). That’s what I want. I would rather do things privately, not brag about them, and have those rewards waiting for me than to tell others about it and that be the reward itself.

Forward Your Riches

If we sow what we have very sparingly, then that is all we can expect to receive (2 Cor 9:6). If we are stingy with our possessions, we can expect few rewards in the kingdom, but if we sow our blessings into the kingdom, they will be there waiting for us as rewards that will be passed out when we see the Lord Jesus Christ. If we work for those only things that will perish, any rewards we hope for in the kingdom will be gone (John 6:27), but if we are feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, making strangers feel welcome, clothing the naked, going to those in prison, and giving a drink of water to those who are thirsty (Matt 25:37-39), Jesus says that “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40).

Those Things That Remain

Think of it this way: Do things that cannot be removed by being shaken (Heb 12:27) or burned up in the fire (2 Pet 3:10). What does this mean? Any person you share the gospel with cannot be taken away by anything. The kind, loving act you show to someone cannot be removed. The generous gift to that person in need cannot be dissolved by fire. In other words, the things that we cannot see are the things that will remain. Everything else will not matter in the end.