Our Reward

Genesis 15:1, “…Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

Last year as I was reading through the Bible this verse jumped out at me. I have read Genesis 15 multiple times, but for some reason this time verse one stood out. Just before this verse, Abram had fended off some of Sodom’s enemies and the king told him to take all the goods of the spoils of war. Abram, however, declines, stating that he has an agreement with God to not take from anything that man offers. He does not want anyone to believe that man has made him rich, lest glory be taken away from God. Once Abram departs and is alone with God, God tells him about his reward.

What stands out is that this is not the type of reward we tend to ask for. This is not the type of reward that we hear about or think about. The reward is not material. It is not even a spiritual gift. But instead, God promises Abram a more intimate and personal relationship with Himself.

Does that seem weird to you? At first glance, doesn’t it seem like Abram got the raw end of the deal? I mean, he clearly already has a relationship with God, so what makes this an exceedingly great reward? Calling yourself the reward sounds like what I would sarcastically tell my siblings when I am trying to figure out what to get them for Christmas. 

The truth is, there is no greater reward then a deeper relationship with God. God is not offering something good, or something great, even, but He is offering Abram the perfect gift. It is the perfect gift simply because God cannot offer Him anything greater then Himself.

To be close to God is something we all ought to strive for, and for those of us who have experienced even a moment of this closeness, it stays with you. The moments of deep, intimate fellowship with God are very clear in my memory. They are clear because of the peace and joy, the knowing of His deep love for me. To be honest, it is not an experience that can be described by mere words, but if you have experienced it (and I hope each reader has) you understand what I am attempting to describe, and you can agree that there is no greater feeling.

I recall a time when I was walking and praying a few years ago. I liked to walk around a neighborhood at night while I prayed because walking seems to help keep my mind active. For several nights I had walked and prayed and struggled. I felt like I was doing right, but it seemed as though God was not listening to my prayers. However, in the middle of one of my nightly prayers, I felt a rush of peace. I had been hurting and desperate and feeling alone when suddenly I felt hope. I knew God was with me, walking next to me, listening to my prayers. I went from lonely to strengthened, from desperate to hopeful. It felt like I was talking to nobody but then I knew He was right next to me. Again, the words cannot come close to doing the experience justice. But it was a moment and a feeling that I still can remember clearly because of how deeply it affected me.

Here is my point. There is nothing wrong with praying for things. In fact, we should pray for things. We should seek God’s will for where he wants us to go to college, or what he wants us to major in. We should ask God to make it clear if we should take a job. We should ask God if He wants us to move or stay put. These are all good prayers, but I fear that this is all we pray about. I fear that we don’t seek His face. I fear that we are missing out on the exceeding great reward that is Him.

Think of the closest relationship you have with someone. This could be your spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent, or friend. Now let’s pretend you are about to pick this person up from the airport. You haven’t seen them in a year, and you are super excited to see them walking out of baggage claim. They finally walk out, carrying their suitcase in one hand and a gift in the other. You run over to them as they put their suitcase down and open up their arms to give you a hug. Once you reach them you grab the gift out of their hand, ignoring their attempted embrace, and run to sit down so you can open your gift, right? Of course not! You embrace them and probably don’t even realize they have a gift until later. Yes, the gift is great, and you’ll be excited to open it later on, but you really just want the person holding the gift.

God should be our deepest and most intimate relationship, but I am afraid we only want Him for His gifts. It is gifts first, relationship second. This clearly shows that we don’t love Him (for more on that check out the article “Do You Love Him?”) but that is not the point of this article. My fear is that we don’t even know what we are missing. We believe the gifts of God are what He gives us when we are good, but we ignore, and may even be unaware of, the exceedingly great reward that is Him. If we ignore this blessing we act foolishly, and if we are unaware of it we are still at fault because it is shown throughout Scripture.

I want to quote something that I read a few years ago that I believe sums up what I have been trying to say. It is a question posed by John Piper in his book God is the Gospel which states, "If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disaster, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?[i]"

Are we satisfied with the gifts of God alone? If so, we are missing out on the exceeding great reward of truly knowing Him. A heaven without Christ is no heaven at all; likewise, a life without Christ is no life worth living. Seek His face, and experience the exceedingly great reward that is Him.

[i] John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself (Wheaton, I: Crossway, 2005), p. 15.

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