Eternal Approach

“After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. ” (Genesis 15:1)

I spend a lot of time thinking about the Lord’s ultimate approval of me. And desiring that He will say, “Well done….” at the end of my days.

And I know that I am not alone in this.

It is especially troubling to think of this when I have not done well on any given day. Or if I have failed in struggling against the “besetting sin” or sins in my life.

Yeah. I wonder if we all have more than just one of those “besetting” sins?

The bottom line here is the growing realization in my life that I have nothing to really look at to say that the Lord has a basis for saying that to me.

Yeah. I’ve done good stuff here and there. And I do have some qualities that He has created in me over the years. But once again, if I am honest, I know that those are all His doing. And are not based on any real “faithful continuance in well doing” – as that phrase is commonly interpreted.

The Basis of the Lord’s Approval

So then, what IS the basis of our hearing His ultimate approval of us? As we shall stand before Him as an obedient child and a “profitable servant”?

The growing realization I have about all this is that this may not be about performance at all. But about the reality of our dependence upon Him.

About our dependence upon what HE IS as opposed to what we think we are or what think we are doing for Him.

Which is totally contrary to what anyone I have heard say who speaks or teaches from the authority in any church I’ve been in.

In fact, they would never give even a remote credence to these ideas without prefacing their statements with about 1,000 “no-license-to-sin” warnings and the need to do “good works”.

I can virtually guarantee you will hear those disclaimers.

Just as surely as putting money in a machine will get you a Snickers bar. Theirs is an automatic response they will give you whenever we say something along those lines.

Which means, for the most part, we will get no support for these ideas from the church leadership or from most believers we will ever know.

Which is why we have to get our hope for such things from somewhere else. From the word of God alone and from those rare men of God who wrote of these wonderful truths in ages past. Whose books are rarely found on the church library shelves. And definitely not taught in church “series” sermons or church Sunday school classes.

Which is a very sad and very real fact.

“Oh, Wretched Man That I Am”

Yet, the truth is, as a believer grows closer to the Lord, he cannot but see his own sinfulness and bankruptcy more and more. Paul certainly did; which he spoke of in Romans Chapters 5 thru 7.

And, consider that verse in Genesis above. Where the Lord said that He, Himself, was Abram’s Reward. Really, allow that wonderful thought to flow over you.

We read verses like that all the time and think we are reading something beautiful and poetic. Which that certainly is.

But we fail to see the vital, live-and-breathe, where-we-bleed truths in such things. Truths that are as vital to us as food and water. In fact, even more so.

Because, what IF, the Lord is our Reward means something like His desire to be with us moment by moment as our shield and as our reward. Not just at the end of our lives when we “enter into the joy of thy Lord”, but right now.

Where we are able to rest in Him as a down-payment on our eternal inheritance. As a taste of things to come.

Oh, Taste and See . . .

In other words, it’s kind of like trying to live for someone all our lives. As in trying to please a father or mother or an employer. But not really enjoying their fellowship day by day. Let alone, moment by moment.

So that, at the end of our lives or at the end of many years with an employer, our boss or our parents say, “Yeah, you worked hard. But you were always on edge with me. You were always worried about how you may or may not have been falling short of my expectations. And so, you neglected to enjoy my close fellowship, comfort, and joy.”

Which is pretty ridiculous really.

But that is exactly what we do.

We set the Lord apart from us as we work to live for Him. As we struggle to do and not do all the stuff He says. Out of fear and toil and not really based on really knowing Him closely.

We go through the motions. We develop our good habits. And follow the list of all the Christian stuff we should do. While being careful not to do the stuff we shouldn’t do.

And we do that week after week. Year after year. Decade after decade.

A Foretaste of Our Eternal Inheritance

Which begs the question: How do we really expect to “enjoy Him forever” when we are unable to rest in Him now?

Is He going to be a different Person at “the judgment seat of Christ” than He is right now?

Or, when we leave this mortal coil and rise to meet Him in heaven, is all the heavenly stuff we will receive for our faithfulness really something separate from the life we have enjoyed with Him here? And the stuff is not bad; it will be amazing forever! And He has given us a desire for those things. Even a deep and eternal longing for those things.

But what HE IS in Himself is infinitely and eternally beyond our ability to ever comprehend.

AND, what IF, He actually wants us to rest and enjoy Him now. And to allow Him to do the work within us that only He can do.

To shut off all the noise, that the churches preach at us.

To stop worrying about the “love” lists and the servant-hood works and all the “missional” outreaches that our church leaders keep telling us to do.

And to actually get back to truly knowing Him in His word and all the wonder that He wants to share with us. The wonder of Him whose name is “Wonderful”.

What a great time of year. As we are entering the Christmas season. When we have the opportunity, if we seize it, to just stop and rest in the reality of His presence in our lives right now.

To stop all of our “working” for Him and just sit at His feet like Mary, the sister of Lazarus, did.

To begin to learn how to Rest in Him. And to enjoy His presence and approval in our lives right now.

Because, unless we do, we are wasting the greatest reward of our eternal inheritance that is available for us to experience right now.

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