Where Is Your Reward

For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?

(Ecclesiastes 6:12)

Meditation

If you drive down Arkansas State Highway 49, you will see signs naming it the Louis Jordan Memorial Highway. I remember who he was and why he was famous, but very few who are younger will unless they’re a history buff. There are buildings, bridges, highways, and streets named after ‘famous’ people all over this country. However, fifty to sixty years later no one knows anything about the memorialized persons. Louis Jordan is just a name on a few signs on one long stretch of highway, nothing more. I don’t think he would like how he’s being remembered today.

I'm not saying that having a road named after you is a bad thing. The point is, some people struggle in their short lives to leave a legacy they imagine will last forever. Our perspective is limited to the natural world we live in. We perceive time as a linear pathway stretching out in front of us. The legacy of a person who died twenty or thirty years before we were born, means nothing to us. Right now, where I live there are at least a dozen highways and streets named after a person. I have no idea who they were, nor the inclination to look them up.

Compared to eternity, our lifespans are infinitely brief. Other places in the Bible, human lifespans are described as a vapor, here one moment and gone the next. Why am I so concerned with what I leave behind me after I’m gone when, in a few short years, no one will remember who I am or what I did? I am approaching the twilight of my life. At times, I find myself thinking about what, if anything, have I accomplished? Who do I write these words for, you, me; or am I trying to impress God? I honestly have to say I don’t think I could ever impress God. So, these words are for both you and me.

To me, the person who works very hard to accomplish something just so they can be memorialized in some way will miss so much more. I was recently made aware of someone who wanted to give a substantial amount of money to his church. However, he wanted a future addition to the building is named in his honor. When the elders told him, they could not do that, he rescinded his offer of money. To him, his name on a plaque was more important than doing important work for God’s kingdom. He sought a reward from a plaque on the wall, instead of a crown in heaven.

Daily Prayer

Our Father in heaven, your name is holy, and we praise you. We worship you because you alone are worthy. We are such people of the moment. We think everything important, happens because we make it happen. We want to think what we’re doing now will be important to many future generations. To be remembered, we seek to be memorialized. The people we leave behind are left to make sure the plaques we want are in place for all to see. We seek this earthly reward without giving much thought to our heavenly reward. Please, Lord God, shine the glory of Christ into our lives. Soften our hearts to hear the words that will break through the darkness that surrounds our hearts and bring us into your wonderful light. Thank you, Jesus, for clearing our minds of the temptation of pride that makes us seek after this recognition. Forgive us for our weaknesses. It’s in your precious name, we pray. Amen!