Life in the kingdom of God is often opposite what the world expects it to be. The world expects someone who does a hard job to be paid well; the world expects those who are the best at something to win an award; the world expects those in high positions to be honored. But we find that in the life of faith, God “rewards” those who do the hard job of spreading God’s word in spiritual ways…not earthly. God calls on us to serve without personal gain, especially those in need who cannot repay us in this world.
But make no mistake about it, our Savior will “reward” such acts of kindness done in faith, out of thanksgiving for His free gift of salvation. As Jesus assured, “And if anyone gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). What grace! Our God “works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13) and blesses us in the process! No wonder, after establishing that God saves us by grace alone through faith alone, Paul stresses that true faith is never alone. He writes, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).