A Great Reward

Do not be afraid, Abram;

I am your shield

and very great reward

(or:  your reward will be very great) (Gen. 15:1).

We tend to teach our children Bible stories if we teach them anything at all from the Bible.  But sometimes I think it would be better to skip the stories (which can only be appreciated by adults anyway) and teach children the words or promises God made to his people

I am not sure that anyone would rely on God from knowing the stories themselves, because it takes some reflection to apply the stories to our own lives.  But the verse above has immediate impact.  Who would not want a "shield" around, beneath, and over their lives?  Who would not want to hear God saying, "Do not be afraid; your reward will be very great!" 

For the Old Testament people, there was no concept of reward-after-death-if-you are-good-now.  The only reward they had in mind was for this present life---and that's the way God taught them.  The blessings for obedience and "walking before Me" were plentiful water for their crops, verdant pastures for their sheep, children "like olive plants around your table," protection from their enemies, etc.  Foreigners were supposed to be able to look at the children of Israel and to understand the blessings that followed those who trusted in the Hebrew God--Yahweh.

There is only one vowel difference between the Hebrew word for blessing and the one for "spring of water."  The two words were meant to be heard together as a kind of pun in the stories, and their meanings blended.  That's why Jacob needed his father's blessing after he had acquired the birthright from Esau.  He was to inherit lots of land, but the land without the blessing would be infertile and non-productive.  

If we had no other reason for cultivating a relationship with God but that we needed a "shield" for our lives, I think that might be a good place to begin.  We might think that pursuing God for a reward is a mercenary incentive, but hey---don't all of us pursue the things that are in our own interest?  And once we have entered into a true relationship with Yahweh, He himself will teach us all we need to know to go beyond our self-interest.  It has been said that we become like the things we worship, and growing more like God through worship is ultimately altruistic and well as "a great reward."