“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV).
When I was a kid, my parents paid me a determined amount for each A and B I earned on my report card. They saw this payment as a reward for my hard work, but it also motivated me to continue to make those good grades.
My parents were teaching me how the world works. I learned hard work has its rewards, and they weren’t all attached to dollar signs.
But some 20 years later in the 1980s, when I was doing the same for my own children, the popular thought became that this payment was bribery and not healthy for our children. Their (the leading child psychologists of the day, I suppose) contention was that children should earn those grades simply out of their own desire.
But let me ask you, would you work 40 hours a week for a company merely because you desired to work for that company? The obvious answer is no. And you’re probably saying that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. But is the wage you earn from that company not a motivation for your work?
This same “for your own desire” mindset has invaded the church in the form of “serve God simply because you love Him, not for what He can give you.”
Our love for God should be be the foundation of our service for Him. That’s what makes the above statement sound so right.
But Satan works with subtleties and often includes a grain of truth in what he says. If you doubt that, read Matthew 4:1–11. Oftentimes the enemy’s lies are couched in language that sounds spiritual. And “serve God because you love Him, not for what He can give you” definitely sounds spiritual.
What the enemy whispers in your ear a nanosecond later is, “don’t expect anything from God.” Or am I the only one he has tried to fool with this lie?
The idea of rewards can be so misconstrued, which is what makes it easy for Satan to deceive us.
Faith is foundational to the Christian believer. And many Christians have memorized “And without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Which Satan uses to plant yet another subtle lie: you’d better please God or He’ll punish you. That’s a lesson many children learn through the conditional love of a parent.
While I know the whole verse by memory, I’m often guilty of only reminding myself of that first portion. I wonder, would psychologists say that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” means that God is bribing us?
The original Greek word for rewarder is misthapodótēs. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon it means “one who pays wages, a rewarder.”
The verse says He rewards those who diligently seek Him, not those who diligently seek His rewards.
When we seek God, we find all that He is. He is our…
- Protector (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
- Provider (Genesis 22:14)
- Healer (1 Peter 2:24)
- Comforter (John 14:26)
- And more!
Do we call Jesus our Lord without reason? No! We come to Jesus because He promises to forgive our sins and give us eternal life. The Bible is filled with promise after promise after promise of what Jesus offers us. Knowing Him gives us…
- Eternal life in heaven (1 John 5:11, John 3:16, 5:24)
- Peace despite our circumstances (John 14:27, Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 4:8)
- His constant presence (Romans 8:38-39, Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:8)
- His power through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16)
- Victory over the troubles in the world (1 John 5:4, Romans 8:37)
- And much more!
Would any man or woman fall in love with each other if they never spoke to each other, never did anything for each other, or never spent any time with each other? Of course not. When someone says “I love you,” do you not expect some kind of action from that person that proves the love professed?
Yet another subtle lie behind “serve God only because you love Him” is this: just blindly love Him because you can’t be positive He’ll do anything for you.
Love is a verb that demands evidence. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave…” (John 3:16).
We know God loves us because He gave His only Son in order to save us.
Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. But He didn’t stop there. His death on the cross secured us all the promises contained in the Bible—the things He’s said He’ll do for us. What He has done for us proves He loves us and draws us to Him—it motivates us to respond to Him.
If we cannot expect God to fulfill His Word, then why pray? If we shouldn’t expect rewards, then according to Hebrews 11:6, we cannot expect to please Him either. Even King David said:
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living” (Psalm 27:18 NKJV).
Nothing we do for God demands a payment from Him. He is not indebted to us, but we are indebted to Him. He has provided all we need, but we must believe and receive what He has provided. Our expectation should be in His faithfulness to His promises.
I do what I do for my children because I love them. God does what He does for us because He loves us.
Do not serve God simply to earn rewards from Him. Serve Him out of love and gratitude for what He’s already done for you. But just as the farmer in the picture above expects those seeds to grow, we can faithfully expect God to fulfill His promises.
Seek Him, trust Him, love Him, and expect Him to fulfill His Word.
Enjoy these videos:
Rick Renner, What does it mean to diligently seek? https://renner.org/article/what-does-diligence-look-like/
Lisa Harper, “How the Enemy Lies to Us,” https://www.tiktok.com/@tbn_official/video/7078003666602478891?_t=8QytOAimWsQ&_r=1