GOD OFFERS REWARDS

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matt. 5:11-12). "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets" (Luke 6:23).

Devotion 1 of 12

THE SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLE OF INCENTIVE

God's practical dealings with men are based on incentives and rewards. This is a revolutionary concept that radically alters ones approach to the work of Christ. Traditionally, religion has sought to motivate people by threats and coercion. Religious leaders generally find it difficult to believe that people will respond to positive incentives and the promise of rewards. This is largely owing to the effect sin has had upon our race. However, God's PRIMARY motivation has always been blessing, not cursing. His incentives have always centered on the appropriation of benefit rather than the avoidance of cursing. To be sure, the threat of cursing is there, but it is always secondary, never primary. A few examples will serve to illustrate the point.

Adam and Eve--the promise of a conquering Seed

Few have appreciated the extreme difficulties Adam and Eve had living after the fall. The remembrance of their disobedience must have been debilitating. How could they hold on their way? After all, Adam lived for 930 years. Eve's response to the birth of her first son suggested she was sustained by hope (Gen. 4:1). The promise of a Seed that would crush the serpent's head provided incentive to maintain hope. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15). I suggest this Divine commitment had sustaining power for the transgressing pair.

Noah--salvation from the flood

Noah was told about the global flood 120 years before it occurred. Living in the awareness of an imminent curse required a strong faith. How is it possible to sustain faith under those circumstances? God provided Noah with an appropriate incentive. "But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female" (Gen. 6:18-19). That promise was undergirded by Divine power.

Abraham--the land of promise and the blessing of the world

When God called Abraham, He uprooted him from his entire social and domestic environment. Additionally, He did not tell Abraham where he was going. The "land of promise" was simply identified as one that would be revealed at a later time. How could Abraham move out on such ambiguity? Again, God provided incentives, designed to constrain Abraham to obey His word. "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). The promise of the Almighty had
an energizing affect upon the "father of us all."

Israel, the people of the First Testament

Even under the Old Covenant, blessing was the primary incentive for the people. Although the Law was associated with cursing, it was not without blessing. God appealed to His people with strong incentives. In doing so, the blessing of the Lord was promised before the cursings were uttered. "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee" (Deut. 28:1-10).

Suffice it to say, divine incentives have always played a prominent role in God's dealings with humanity. The situation has not changed under the New Covenant. God still provides excellent and logical reasons for appropriating and maintaining "like precious faith."

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Christ, give me a mind that regularly ponders Your exceeding great and precious promises!

-- TOMORROW: WHAT ABOUT OUR BODIES? --