“A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”
Proverbs 28:20 NIV
The proverb reminds us that often chasing riches is a fantasy that finishes with a penalty! There is a certain centeredness that comes to a man or woman who is centered on God. When we are fully dependent upon our God he brings blessing and riches that are far superior to the rewards of the world. It is neither wrong nor theologically unsound to live in expectation of God’s profound blessing upon our lives. He is a God who rewards openly what is done in secret.
A faithful life is a life of consistency. Consistency in family, consistency in labor, and consistency in worship. The family needs a dependable response from the parents. It needs to be predictable. Spotty attempts to discipline our children is received as abuse when it is in consistent and confusing to our children. When once a certain misbehavior is tolerated and another time ( maybe in front of company) it is rebuked and discipline we are hurting our children’s spirit and frustrating them. Remember the Prodigals Father was predictable. When once our children know they are astray and come home to confess their failures is ther a predictable response? Do they find us running to them in mercy?
A faithful laborer will be rewarded with more and better paying work. The reward here is financial and immediate it seems. There is blessing to the faithful life. Pity the woman who is married to the man who works when he feels like it. They will certainly be in want most of their lives until the lesson of diligent faithfulness in labor is learned.
A faithful worshipper is the kind of life that can be of benefit to others. The church can depend upon their faithful attendance to be ministered to, and to minister to others. The faithful worshipper is the kind of servant that ministry can be built upon. How will the children know to show up if the teacher is whimsically attending? How can the Pastor count on the usher to be at his post so that the visitor will feel welcomed and find Jesus without the faithful servants? How can broken hearts be mended at the altar when there is no person to lay hands on them at the altar in obedience to the commands of the King?
For this kind of life, God promises a reward. A rich, and satisfying reward because he recognizes the faithful servant is dividing his attention from his own needs to the children of God, the house of the Lord, and the poorest among us. These servants have a promise from God.
