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Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. 1 Corinthians 4:5

A few months ago I had the most bizarre thing happen to me. I went to a local electronics store to purchase a TV. I looked closely at the picture of each model. I asked the salesman some questions about the warranty and service history of each set and finally made a decision based largely on the quality of the set and its manufacture in the USA. An added bonus to the TV I bought was the rebate attached to my purchase.

But that isn’t the bizarre thing. That happened a few days later. I was watching the early news when the phone rang. Believe it or not, the caller on the other end of the line was the CEO of the company I purchased the TV from! He called and told me he’d be flying into town tomorrow and was wondering if we could have lunch! I was flabbergasted but told him I’d love to have lunch with him. He assured me it was his treat.

The next day we went to very nice restraint for lunch. I found out the CEO was a very personable guy and we had a great time together. In fact, our ‘lunch’ ended up being nearly two hours sitting at the table eating great food and getting to know each other. At the end of our time, the CEO reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope.

“Here is your rebate check,” He smiled as he handed it to me. “I just wanted to thank you on behalf of our company for purchasing your TV from us. There are many other brands out there and I’m just pleased that you decided on us. Thank you.”

Can you believe that? I hope not. It wasn’t true. Reality is, we all know that even though a CEO of some company is pleased we buy their product, they can’t possibly deliver a thank you to each person who buys their product. There are just too many of us consumers and, frankly, we aren’t that important.

But we are to God! Look again at the end of the verse for today. When the time comes for us Christ-followers to enter the kingdom we will receive our reward for being faithful directly from God himself! He’s not going to delegate  that privilege to some angel. We won’t be visited by some great Bible hero. Not even Jesus gets the honor. Nope. It’s our Heavenly Father that will personally give us our reward.

There are many times we do things that go unappreciated. Many times that people will misunderstand our motives, challenge the wisdom of our actions, or be critical of our methods. But someday all those things that have been hidden will be praised. By the angels? Perhaps. By those who’ve gone before us? Maybe. But most importantly by the CEO of the universe!

Don’t be discouraged. Don’t give up doing good. Someday your actions will be rewarded personally by your heavenly Father.

PRAYER: Father God. I’m in awe when I realize that I am the most important thing in your life. It  amazes me to think that you will personally reward me for all the things that I do that go unnoticed. I praise you and worship you for your great love and mercy towards me. Empower me today with a new energy to serve you. Not for the reward, but as an act of worship. In Jesus name, Amen.