The Promise of a Reward

While I do not believe in bribing children to do the right thing, I do believe in rewarding them for behaviors we want to become habit.  Giving children something they desire in exchange for good grades probably does not really influence moment-by-moment behaviors too much, but it serves to recognize that they have made consistent effort that "pays off" in the end.  And eventually, the reward of studying for its own sake replaces the dangling carrot that may have begun the process.

It has been said that Virtue is its own reward, but few of us are astute enough to understand that truth before we acquire virtue, just as children cannot see at first the inherent rewards of good behavior and good manners.  Something must motivate us to turn from the easy path that leads to destruction and to enter onto the more difficult way of 'perfection.'  Usually, it is only when we begin to experience the pain caused by our own selfish or foolish choices that we finally determine to change the way we are doing things.

For some people, the promise of an eternal reward---or the threat of eternal suffering---may be enough to motivate good behavior, but for most of us, "pie in the sky" is a bit too remote to restrain us from the immediate gratification that's right in front of us now.  When Jesus came to "call sinners" and heal the sick, He came first to the down-trodden and the suffering.  The "reward" He offered was immediate:  He offered a 'way out' of their current mess.  He did not say, Be good, and you will be rewarded in heaven, although He did promise that for those who followed Him, their reward would be very great.

In the Book of Genesis, God tells Abraham:  Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield, your very great reward (Gen. 15:1).  Would that God be able to say to each one of us, I am your very great reward, and that we would grasp the truth of His words to us!  But we are still children in the spiritual life; somehow, the idea of God Himself being our reward does not appeal so much.  We are still clinging to the dangling carrots of this life.  We still need a way out of our current suffering; we need healing from our immediate pain; we need a promise of something-better-than-this ____ [fill in the blank].  Someone once said that God comes to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

To those who are hurting, God shows compassion and healing.  To the disciples, God shows "what they must suffer" for Him (Acts 9:16).  Oswald Chambers put it this way:  The disciple is one in whom self-interest and pride and self-sufficiency have been completely erased.  The disciple is someone who has learned gradually that God Himself is the great reward, someone who does not care about the 'golden streets of heaven' as much as he cares about entering into the 'joy of his master,' a reward that begins even now, in this life.