Nothing Earned
by Tyler Johns
God has been showing me more and more that it’s not so much about what we do, but rather about how we trust Him and how we love Him. And He affirmed that as I read this passage from Luke. We ought not to seek rewards or boosts in our esteem and pride when we act in obedience to God. As the passage says, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
Think about this for a minute. The Gospel declares that, while we were still sinners, Christ gave His very life in service to us and invited us into real, everlasting relationship with God. Now what more adequate response can we make to this incredible act of love than to serve Him and His Kingdom’s work? It is a proper response and it is a response of love.
A true act of loving service to another is done without any expectation of reciprocation. So when we do something for God or in obedience to God, we ought not to expect anything in return. We are simply doing our duty as His loving servants. There’s no “Thank You” required or wages earned for our acts of obedience. We have already received the most gracious gift we could ever receive through the works Christ has done for us on the cross! Should we expect even more from God just because we’ve simply done our duty? No! Our deeds don’t get us anything. We could never earn ourselves more blessings or favor from Him.
Check this out, if God blessed us because of what we do, our motivation for obedience would be in the wrong things. We would start to seek more the blessings from His hands than the gracious glory of His loving presence. The right motivation for our obedience and service to Him is out of reverence to who He is and in response to what He’s done! That’s it. We obey God and do things as servants in His Kingdom. NOT to receive anything back, but rather because it’s the only proper response to Who He is and all He’s done!
Now, does God still shower His grace on us and bless us with incredible favor and gifts? Of course! He wants to, in fact! But He doesn’t do it because of anything we do for Him, but rather because of His love for us! You see, God already wants to bless us! We don’t need to do anything to earn His desire to bless us! He’s already proven His desire when He sent Jesus to die for us and proclaim eternal salvation to ALL who would believe! Our God LOVES to bless us! We are His children! So how can we not serve Him gladly in all circumstances when before we ever even lifted a finger in service to Him He blessed us with THE greatest gift we would ever receive?!!
God deserves our unconditional obedience and worship! And in return, He owes us NOTHING! And we deserve nothing. What more could we want anyway? I mean, we have already received the best He has to offer … Himself! And yes, He’s still going to shower us with many other blessings and gifts, too! But it won’t be because of what we do, but rather because of who we are (His sons and daughters) and because of how much He loves and adores us! His love for us and our identity in Him as His children are what secure for us heavenly rewards, favor, and blessings! But nothing else we could ever receive from Him will compare to that great joy of knowing Him and being called His own!
So be relieved today! We don’t have to do things to earn His blessings and His favor (praise God!). His favor is already for us and He already desires to bless us! We get to respond to that. To Who He is and all He’s done! And when we respond, it’s not so much about what we do, but the motivation behind it. How we love and trust Him in our obedience. Time and again He proves His love and care for us and that He knows what He’s doing.
“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Luke 17:7-10
God has been showing me more and more that it’s not so much about what we do, but rather about how we trust Him and how we love Him. And He affirmed that as I read this passage from Luke. We ought not to seek rewards or boosts in our esteem and pride when we act in obedience to God. As the passage says, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”
Think about this for a minute. The Gospel declares that, while we were still sinners, Christ gave His very life in service to us and invited us into real, everlasting relationship with God. Now what more adequate response can we make to this incredible act of love than to serve Him and His Kingdom’s work? It is a proper response and it is a response of love.
A true act of loving service to another is done without any expectation of reciprocation. So when we do something for God or in obedience to God, we ought not to expect anything in return. We are simply doing our duty as His loving servants. There’s no “Thank You” required or wages earned for our acts of obedience. We have already received the most gracious gift we could ever receive through the works Christ has done for us on the cross! Should we expect even more from God just because we’ve simply done our duty? No! Our deeds don’t get us anything. We could never earn ourselves more blessings or favor from Him.
Check this out, if God blessed us because of what we do, our motivation for obedience would be in the wrong things. We would start to seek more the blessings from His hands than the gracious glory of His loving presence. The right motivation for our obedience and service to Him is out of reverence to who He is and in response to what He’s done! That’s it. We obey God and do things as servants in His Kingdom. NOT to receive anything back, but rather because it’s the only proper response to Who He is and all He’s done!
Now, does God still shower His grace on us and bless us with incredible favor and gifts? Of course! He wants to, in fact! But He doesn’t do it because of anything we do for Him, but rather because of His love for us! You see, God already wants to bless us! We don’t need to do anything to earn His desire to bless us! He’s already proven His desire when He sent Jesus to die for us and proclaim eternal salvation to ALL who would believe! Our God LOVES to bless us! We are His children! So how can we not serve Him gladly in all circumstances when before we ever even lifted a finger in service to Him He blessed us with THE greatest gift we would ever receive?!!
God deserves our unconditional obedience and worship! And in return, He owes us NOTHING! And we deserve nothing. What more could we want anyway? I mean, we have already received the best He has to offer … Himself! And yes, He’s still going to shower us with many other blessings and gifts, too! But it won’t be because of what we do, but rather because of who we are (His sons and daughters) and because of how much He loves and adores us! His love for us and our identity in Him as His children are what secure for us heavenly rewards, favor, and blessings! But nothing else we could ever receive from Him will compare to that great joy of knowing Him and being called His own!
So be relieved today! We don’t have to do things to earn His blessings and His favor (praise God!). His favor is already for us and He already desires to bless us! We get to respond to that. To Who He is and all He’s done! And when we respond, it’s not so much about what we do, but the motivation behind it. How we love and trust Him in our obedience. Time and again He proves His love and care for us and that He knows what He’s doing.