The Motive and the Reward for Service
By J. B. Blosser
ACTIVITY in the great work of soul saving is the result of a union with Christ. The earnest effort of the individual Christian to reach the perishing sinner is the manifestation to the human eye of the love that is throbbing in the great heart of God for the purchase of the blood of Christ. It is the love of God, “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us,” that prompts us to do acceptable service for him. There may be abundant activity prompted by other motives than the love of God; but such zeal will not advance the work of God in the earth. The Jews manifested a zeal seldom surpassed; but the “one proselyte” that they won was “twofold more the child of hell” than themselves. Selfish zeal for the advancement of the theory of the truth and the building up of a denomination should not be confounded with a “love of the truth” and an earnest effort to give its saving qualities to others, and so advance the kingdom of God. The latter will receive its reward “at the resurrection of the just;” the former will receive its reward in this life, even the praise of men. “Verily . . . they have their reward.” What Is the Reward for Service?
We might first inquire what it is not. It is not “eternal life;” for in Rom. 6: 23 we read, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So eternal life11is a gift, and not a reward for service. The reward is not the home we shall receive in the earth made new; for, “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3: 29. This valuable gift comes by “inheritance.” Our reward for service is plainly stated in Matt. 25: 21-23; “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” This is given when “the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.” Then it is that he will “reward . . . every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22: 12. Then it is that they will enter into the joy of their Lord. But what is the “joy of the Lord” at that time? Zeph. 3: 17 tells us: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” He sees “the travail of his soul,” and is satisfied. This was the “joy that was set before him,” that enabled him to endure “the cross, despising the shame.” Heb. 12: 2. Then if we are to enter into his joy at that time, we must first go and “trade” with the ability God has given us to win souls for him; then we can come again with rejoicing, bringing our sheaves with us. Those who, amid trials and difficulties, win souls for the Master by loving service, will be rewarded by partaking with Christ in the joy he has over the souls thus rescued. “They that be wise [“teachers,” margin] shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Dan. 12: 3. Paul tells us that those souls he had won for the Master was his “glory and joy.” 1 Thess. 2: 19, 20. This, then, should be the reward for which we should seek. This is the hope set before us. This was what inspired Moses to esteem “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Heb. 11: 26.