A friendly reminder that success is not the key – faithfulness is. It’s all about being obedient.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a few thoughts about heaven.
Because when it comes to heaven, I'm convinced we will not idle away eternity strolling down streets of gold, no passing time while plucking harps by a glassy sea. No, we are going to have jobs to do. For all of eternity, we will be in service to Christ. And that thought alone brings tears to my eyes; I get so choked up thinking about my friend, Cornelius, who was spinal cord injured and bedridden for fifteen years, unable to lift a finger to do an ounce of work. For all that time, Cornelius longed to be able to just do something, do anything tangible, just anything, just some sort of concrete service for the Lord. Well, Cornelius is now in heaven, freed from his bed and those four confining walls of his bedroom. And right now, he is in service to Christ, worshiping the Lord, as are all the rest of our family and friends who have gone on before us. And one day when we all get our new glorified bodies, then all of us will really get to work – exciting work in eternity of which all of us will never grow tired.
And for me, this will be heaven, because I love serving God. And if we've been faithful in earthly service, our responsibility in heaven will increase proportionately. No, I take that back. It won't be increased in proportion; no. God is too generous for that. Our service will increase completely out of proportion. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read the formula Jesus gives in his parable about heaven in Luke 19 where he says, "'Well done, my good servant!' 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'"
Stop and read that again. Ten cities? In exchange for faithfulness in a very small matter? Whoa! When it comes to blessing us, Jesus goes beyond basic math and blesses us with calculus equations. Those who are faithful in a few minor things will be put in charge over multitudinous things.
Were you faithful in your marriage or in a mission, even if only in a small way? Well, God is already thinking exponentially, as in his "ten cities" equation. He is going to generously raise your capacity for service to the "nth" degree in eternity. The more faithful you are in this life, the more wonderful responsibility you will be given in the life to come.
Now please note that Jesus doesn't say, "Because you've been successful in a very small matter." No, he says, "Because you've been trustworthy." God is not scrutinizing the success of your marriage or judging the results of your mission. When it comes to the judgment seat of Christ, he won't pull out the return-on-investment charts and do a cost-effective analysis on your earthly service, no. Every Christian is on the same playing field. Success isn't the key, faithfulness is. Being big and better is not the point. It's all about being obedient.
The more trustworthy you've been, the greater your service in eternity. And heaven, oh my goodness, is going to be one happy, busy place! And my friend Cornelius will be in on all the fun. One more thing, and just know that I love sharing this sort of hope with you every single day. So please join me next time right here for more inspiration and even more hope. And by the way if you’d like to share this program on your Facebook page, just click the share button at joniradio.org. Spread the word and the hope! This is Joni Eareckson Tada and I’ll see you next time because I love sharing hope.
© Joni and Friends