{"id":948,"date":"2011-09-20T13:05:46","date_gmt":"2011-09-20T17:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/?p=948"},"modified":"2011-09-20T13:05:46","modified_gmt":"2011-09-20T17:05:46","slug":"our-reward-his-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jkitchen.org\/?p=948","title":{"rendered":"Our Reward = His Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSo what do I <\/em>get from this deal?\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re a bottom line kind of people. We want to know. Reward may not be our only motivation, but still \u2026<\/p>\n

God\u2019s people have always wondered this. So I go God\u2019s way and then what?<\/p>\n

When God appeared to Abram he was quick to let him know what he could expect out of this Master-Servant relationship: \u201c<\/em><\/strong>After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: \u2018Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span> (Gen. 15:1, NIV; cf. KJV, NKJV).<\/p>\n

God was quick to inform Abram that there would be a reward for trusting and obeying God. In using the word \u201creward\u201d God chose a word that probably was \u201ca term for a mercenary\u2019s pay\u201d (p.241, Genesis: A Commentary<\/em>, Waltke).<\/p>\n

It is an interesting choice of words, for at the end of chapter 14 Abram had just returned from defeating the four kings who had raided and plundered and kidnapped the peoples of the area around southern end of the Salt Sea. Abram and his people utterly defeated these kings and \u201che brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people\u201d (14:16). He immediately tithed of this plunder (vv.17-20). Then he refused to take even a little of the ninety percent that remained\u2014\u201c\u2026lest [the king of Sodom] should say, \u2018I have made Abram rich\u2019\u201d (v.23). He continued, \u201cI will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me\u201d (v.24a).<\/p>\n

So Abram refused to get rich quick. Immediately God appeared and said (in essence), \u201cSign on with me, Abram, and you will be rewarded.\u201d And, said God, \u201cYou won\u2019t be disappointed!\u201d Indeed, He emphasized the value of the reward twice over by saying the reward would be \u201cvery great.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what did God promise Abram he\u2019d get out of a lifestyle of leaving everything to obey God? Abram\u2019s reward would be God Himself<\/em>. The Giver is the greatest and ultimate (and, indeed, the only really important) gift.<\/p>\n

The text of Genesis 14:24 twice utilizes an interesting word that designates a \u201cshare of the booty.\u201d The word shows up elsewhere in the Old Testament again emphasizing that God Himself is our very great Reward.<\/p>\n

God brought the psalmists to the place in life where they would confess that their great hope and reward in this life and the next was simply the favor and presence of and relationship with the Lord Himself.<\/p>\n