Eternal Rewards

In church today we sang "Count Your Many Blessings." It's a song I've sung my whole life, but when we got to the third verse, an overwhelming understanding of the eternal nature of our existence came over me. It goes:

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

I'll be honest with you; I've never been one to be greatly motivated by "heavenly rewards." While I have no doubt that those rewards are real and tangible, I can't quite wrap my mind around them. I'm more often motivated by God's rewards in the here and now. I know that we are blessed when we obey God's commands. I know that He showers blessings on those who seek to follow Him. Many of those blessings come in mortality, but I cannot even begin to comprehend the magnitude of blessings that await the faithful in the eternities.

In Isaiah 65, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ and how peaceful and wonderful it will be on earth. Whether I live to see that day or not, I know that death is not the end, and the place where our Father dwells is even more glorious than Isaiah's description of the Millennium. Verse 17 of this chapter says, "For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind." The future is so bright, we won't even think about these days!

A gentleman I know compared mortality to the movie Groundhog Day. Perhaps you've seen the movie with Bill Murray where he has to keep living February 2nd over and over until he sheds his selfishness. This life -- this Groundhog Day sort of existence where one day looks very much like the next -- is not indicative of eternity. We are spiritual beings having a mortal experience. The joys, triumphs, concerns, pain and sadness of this world are not reflections of eternity. We've been put in a rock tumbler to be polished for a short time, but the tumbler isn't where we'll stay eternally.

As a matter of fact, this fleeting existence of 70-80 years on earth is nothing but a blip in the story of our existence. When we are in God's presence, these former days won't even come to mind -- anymore than we would now obsess over a box of crayons lost in Kindergarten.

As we sang the third verse of Count Your Many Blessings, I realized that I'll be 40 in May. I've had a wonderful life. We have six beautiful well-behaved children and the Lord has been good to me in mortality. My life is about half-way over, and whether I ever obtain my goals and aspirations of this life just doesn't matter in the eternal scheme of things. When I look at others with their lands and gold, when I look at others with their Number 1 New York Times Best Sellers, does it really matter? Can anything compare to the many blessings I have which wealth can never buy -- my reward in heaven and my home on high?

And so the crux of it comes down to this. Have I answered Christ's bidding to Come, follow Him? Have I walked the straight and narrow path? Have I been willing to place my sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit on the altar of faith? The answers to these questions are critical, because in the end, that's really all that matters.

Written by: Marnie Pehrson - She Loves God
Marnie L. Pehrson is a wife, mother of 6, founder of SheLovesGod.com, and author of both inspirational Christian titles such as You Can't Fly If You're Still Clutching the Dirt: How to Stop Worrying and Achieve Your God-given Potential and historical fiction novels like "The Patriot Wore Petticoats". Be sure to download her free ebook Nothing Is Impossible for Those Who Believe. You may read excerpts and samples of her books and ebooks at www.MarniePehrson.com. She also frequently adds to her gratitude column here.