Today's Passage - Luke 14:12-14

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 14:12-14   Then Jesus said to his host, 'When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'   Jesus taught us here not to ask for reward when we do good deeds.  This is an important lesson to learn when we serve the Lord.  When we serve, we expect others to give us reward for what we've done.  This is especially true in caring ministry; when we care for people, we expect to be praised by others, or we even expect others to treat us the same way we treated them, but the expectation actually brings us tremendous pressure.  Also, we expect others to recognize us when we serve.  If no one recognizes us for what we have done, we become depressed and unhappy.   The basic question is, why do we serve?  Is it for God, or is it for the reward?  The Lord said in a parable: a farm owner went out to look for workers for his vineyard, and he told the workers we would pay one shekel.  He went out again at 9am and found more workers, and also agreed to pay them one shekel.  He then went out again at noon, 3pm and even 6pm and got more workers, and he also committed to paying them one shekel.  At the time of passing out pay, those who came to work at 3pm and 6pm received one shekel, and those who came earlier thought they should be entitled to more because they came early; however, the master still only gave them one shekel, and they complained that it's unfair.  Then the master said: Didn't we agree upon the wage?  Isn't it up to me how I want to spend my money?  Why are you envious?  The last ones will become the first, and first ones will become the last.   The Lord has taught us not to run the race for the sake of the reward.  If you have your eyes set on the reward in the world, then you will either be in despair or depressed, or you will win the reward on the world but lose the reward in heaven.  You have a master sitting on the throne, and not only does He take care for you from the heaven, He's also watching you.  Matthew 6:4 says that "...your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."  Our God is always watching in secret; you may think no one saw you, but God saw everything.  That's why God has remembered all the Christians behind the iron curtain or prisons who shared their food with other while they starve.  God sees everything that you do, and He will personally reward you for what you have done.  All you need to do is to trust Him in peace, and He will take care of you.   Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because in our life, you not only care for us, you also watch over us.  You will personally reward us for everything that we have done.  Please comfort our hearts, especially those brothers and sisters who have done great deeds for others but thought no one has seen them; we ask that you reward them abundantly.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!