Our Full Reward

April 23

God wants to be at the top of our list of priorities. We understand that fully, for we expect the same thing from the people we love. Parents anticipate that their children will love them so well that obedience will be second nature.

Parents love and nurture their youngsters with all they are and all they possess, so being loved and recognized as their children’s authority figure is not too much to expect.

Spouses foresee exclusivity in their relationship to one another. In fact, to breach that expectation is the only Biblical grounds for divorce (see Matthew 5:31, 32). Though we live in an age when sexual activity is engaged at an early age and ‘open marriages’ are not uncommon, God’s law in the matter remains unchanged.

Employers fully anticipate the loyalty of those who work for them. The employee who speaks ill of the company will find himself scouring the want ads of the newspaper. Within each of us is the full comprehension of the veracity of these expectations for we all carry them into our most intimate and valued relationships. It is not surprising to us, then, that in this regard we are like our Heavenly Father who also expects us to put Him first.

In fact, He values our making Him our top priority so much that He attaches a promise to our doing so! In Luke 12:31, Jesus says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all things will be added unto you.” If we put Him first, the Christ who loves us assures our full reward.