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Should God Reward You On Your Terms

We need to ask this question, why should God reward with eternal life you when you refuse to turn from your wicked ways? Life goes on everyday as if God didn’t exist and the people he created do whatever they consider right in their eyes. Unfortunately, the scripture advocates that mankind seldom considers what is right in the eyes of a judge who is a stranger to them?  As a human being I have learned one thing, you can always find fault in the people around you for one reason or another. The reason being, my way is right for me but not right for other people.

Let’s be practical, have we ever considered that being right with other people is not based on our opinion? Although we cannot dictate how people think or make decisions for other people, we test them to know whether they are worthy of respect.  However if you love them shouldn’t you tell them what they can do to gain God’s respect. Regardless of what you do or think, the world feels they are worthy of going to heaven because they have lived a better life than other people they know. However the judge of mankind is not going to use your opinions to decide your worth to him. In courts of law a man is not judged by his position in society but what he has done to the society he lives in.

When our lives are reduced to behavior qualities we find that people value you for your character and how you respect and love them. In other words you don’t have a right to decide your worth to another person; rather worth is earned by how you honor the person next to you.   Consider carefully that you earn the esteem of the people around you with the character you exhibit. 

The esteem of a person is developed around your strength of character and earned by the way you live. Among the character attributes that are earned is respect, honor, dignity, and integrity, virtue, worth, right standing, recognition, distinction, a good name and reputation. God is capable of admiring you for these qualities because esteem is based on your character traits. Let’s remember that by his grace he gave us Ten simple Commandments to help us to establish a character that is admired by the social order God created.

The bible teaches us to structure our life based on the basic moral principles that are just as fair to God as they are to our fellow man. However these moral principles are govern by a love that demands that you do unto others as you would have them to do to you (Matthew 7:12.)

Doing unto others as you would have them do to you first demonstrates your love for God and produce actions that sums up the Law and the Prophets. It also reminds you that what is right to you is the way others want to be respected. God’s love is not the kind of affection that is normal between man and wife, rather God’s way of loving one another demands that we serve the social and moral needs of one another.

God’s love is a love of benevolence that builds the self-worth of those you encounter daily with the compassion to serve their needs. God’s love leaves a lasting impression in relationships within the lives of those you touch. It produces a respectable character that people admire and want to imitate.

There are going to be millions of people in heaven and we all have to get along with each other.  Will God reward you on your terms, when the only person you love is yourself? Aren’t you offended by those who are in love with themselves?  Do you really want to be around them and aren’t they personally subject to your character assignation?  

To maintain peace and order in heaven there has to be a central point that every citizen of heaven can agree upon. God says he has always been God, but he can only be your God as long as you respect him enough to obey him. How can we obtain a state of acceptability with God when you don’t do what he commands? Will we have his respect if we spend all of our time on other things and leave him out of our lives? Will God reward you when you refuse the righteousness of Christ and by your actions say I do not want Christ as my Lord?

How do you like people that refuse to associate with you or do anything for you? Agreements between people cannot be reached without making an effort to know them. Although the world knows that God exists they ignore what God wants from them. In addition they won’t do anything to please him unless it’s on their terms. Consider this, who is God when you dictate the terms? Evidently those who cling to this attitude haven’t considered that God is capable of humbling them in an millisecond. Being in the presence of an Almighty God may be the only time you realize that he can make a decision or judge your character without having to consider or agree with your opinion.

People with an elevated opinion of themselves have never considered that heaven is God’s home and the nerve center for his kingdom? However the people of this world understand that there is always a condition when visiting another country so why wouldn’t God have conditions to live in his kingdom? In this world those who travel from one country to another apply for a passport and agree to live by the laws of the nation they are visiting.  Those who choose to embrace permanent residency in another nation learn the culture and history of that nation and ultimately swear an oath of allegiance to that nation before becoming a citizen of that nation.

 Other nations want to know and understand who you are and have the personal assurance that you pose no threat or harm to the people of their nation. Wouldn’t God want the same? Technically speaking, when we repent of our sins and are saved, we promise to serve Jesus Christ the rest of our lives and then declare that Jesus is Lord? This is a formal commitment similar to a pledge of allegiance that subjects your life to Jesus Christ and the laws of God’s kingdom. In this commitment we are expected to love God and Savior with our entire being which demands a complete respect of his person and authority. We also commit to love every citizen of heaven as we love ourselves earning the respect, honor, dignity, right standing, worth, and integrity attributed to sincere and genuine love.

Should God reward you on your terms, when you made every effort to avoid him during your life? When you dishonor his name with your mouth, have you not shown whether you are a friend or foe? Look carefully at the way you live for the arrogant see no need to change the way they live.  They lack the wisdom to understand that God has a mind of his own and cannot be influenced to agree with your opinion.

God said he would reward everyone according to their deeds and said he would have mercy and compassion on those he chooses (Romans 9:15). When everything has been said and done you can be assured that God has made all men aware that he will reward you on the terms he has spelled out in his word. We live by every word that comes from his mouth; therefore our life is in his hands. Keep in mind that he is the Supreme Being that created each of us and his word has the highest obtainable authority and is absolutely final whether it is in Heaven or on Earth.

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