Hebrews 11 Reminds Us – Look to the Reward
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As my husband said the words, “He is gone. He went home to be with the Lord,” a feeling of deep sadness, but also peace, came over me. Our good friend from a previous ministry team in North Carolina had been diagnosed with colon cancer almost two years prior. None of us knew that it would take this 50-year-old so quickly.
As we read an update shared by his sister who was in the room at his passing, she said that his heart rate increased in excitement at the end and he said, “Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! I am ready to be with the Lord!” After that, flat line, no more breath, no more life here on earth. He was with the Savior that he dedicated his life to.
Heaven is a mystery. Our friend did not say what he saw, but his sister knew it was incredible. His faith became sight. Today we are going to study how Hebrews 11 tells us to look to the reward.
Maybe you have heard similar stories or have had an experience with a dying man or woman? It causes us to wonder how hospice workers could not have faith in God because (I am sure) that they see and hear some amazing things as people exit their earthly bodies.
Hebrews 11 is a passage about the testimony of many who have passed away, yet left their mark on the world. They are in what is called the “Hall of Faith.” People like Abraham, Moses, and Rahab are mentioned here. They themselves said yes to God. They agreed to follow Him with their lives, and they allowed Him to use them for His glory, anticipating the greater reward in Heaven.
A Call to Faith Now
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:1-3).
I’ve once heard it put “You can believe in God, but do you believe God?” The ways in which we live our lives says a lot about what we actually believe in our hearts. Believing, (having faith) is being confident that our hope is in Christ and it is a firm foundation, that God is the Creator and that His Holy Spirit lives in all believers in Jesus.
A Blessing of Reward
The life of a follower of Jesus might not be an easy one. Actually it is a known fact that it will be a life of various trials and suffering (James 1:2 and Matthew 16:24-26). Regardless, we have so much reward right now in having the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and the security of heaven. However, many of us will not see much reward on this earth. The truth is that all other religions are about earning your way by your own obedience or being your own “god.” Being a born-again Christian is accepting that we could not earn our way to heaven or earn forgiveness from our sins, but receiving Jesus in our place.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
Faith pleases God. When we come to Him in prayer and in life, we have to believe that He is there and He is who He claims to be. Already in this verse we see the word reward. God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. This means that there is a current reward. What is it?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says, “The reward is God Himself diligently ‘sought' and ‘walked with’ in partial communion here, and to be fully enjoyed hereafter. Compare Ge 15:1, ‘I am thy exceeding great reward.’”
Today, those who are believers in Jesus have the reward. He is the reward. Our God gives Himself to us. He came down to us. He is worth being sought after like a great treasure and walked alongside daily as a best friend. Yes, there is a reward of heaven waiting and a reward of how we have served Him on earth, but it all pales in comparison to having Christ. Having Him now is the current reward; seeing Him later is the coming reward.
This causes us to ponder the concept of a veil on a wedding day. It is the bride who wears the veil. We the church, are veiled to physically seeing the face of God, however Jesus has unveiled our faces to see His glory. Our Groom has removed the barrier between us, and one day we will experience this truth in full.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The Coming Reward
As you read about the various people mentioned in this passage of Scripture, we notice a theme of obedience without immediate results. Noah labored hard to build an ark long before seeing a flood. Abraham followed God into a foreign land before he even had a child, and he still never saw the complete promise unfold for the many descendants thereafter. And Moses had faith in God’s kingdom over building his own that was right in front of him.
It says in verse 26 that Moses was looking ahead to his reward. He could have sought after temporary, worldly wealth and power, but he chose to place his trust in the Lord and seek Him instead, knowing the eternal reward of walking with God and being with Him forever was much greater.
There are also many believers mentioned who received torture and death on account of their belief in Christ Jesus, being martyred in horrific ways, and yet still receiving reward.
“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (Hebrews 11:39-40).
Whatever title, opportunities or earthy blessings these people received, it says none obtained what had been promised. God had something much better in store for them and He does for all believers as well.
Today, may we be reminded to place our hope in Christ and remember that He is our Great Reward now, and He has something better for us waiting after our time here. We have no idea what our friend saw that day, but it was Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! And he was ready to receive his reward.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Seng kui Lim
