Rules of Service pt.1
Updated: Jan 12, 2022
Our work and service to the lord will be rewarded. This is so comforting especially if you are involved in service of any kind to the lord. You will not go unrewarded. It’s clearly stated in 2Chronicles 15:7.
2 Chronicles 15:7 KJV
[7] Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
God said these words of prophecy to Asa the king of Judah, to encourage him to keep working for the lord, despite the challenges that lay ahead. Asa desperately needed to hear these words because, he was living in a time of severe demonic oppression in the land of Judah. There were idols all over the land and God's people were worshipping these idols forsaking God Almighty.
It was a really tough task for one man to go against the traditions of the kings that have gone before him, and to also go against the prevailing spiritual climate of the land. God sent Azariah the prophet to tell King Asa to keep working because, all his labor for God will be rewarded. This encouraged and spurred on King Asa to keep up the spiritual work he was doing in the land.
But will God reward all service and acts done for him? This verse in Timothy answers the question. Let’s look at it from 2 translations, so that the meaning is clear and obvious.
2 Timothy 2:5 NLT
[5] And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules.
2 Timothy 2:5 KJV
[5] And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
In other words, if you intend to get a crown (reward) from Jesus, you have to follow the rules of service. If you don’t, the Bible says you will suffer great loss.
Service to God must be done with a lot of intentionality. That is because, our works and service for the lord, will not automatically be accepted and rewarded, it will first be tested by fire. If you severed the lord following the rules, you will pass the fire test and be rewarded. If you served the lord ignoring the rules, you will fail the fire test and lose your reward.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NLT
[13] But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value.
[14] If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.
[15] But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.