Report Card

REPORT CARD

Part 5 of 12 in Train to Reign Series

Ephesians 4:11-13

“It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for work of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach maturity of faith and in the knowledge of Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

By Your Deeds devotion showed how ten year old Cassie wanted to serve Jesus by volunteering at a Food Kitchen before Christmas. Someday, every believer in Christ will stand before Jesus and give account of our lives. This is not the Great White Throne of Judgment for nonbelievers in Revelation 20:11. John 3:18 guarantees believers, “Whoever believes in Him [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he does not believe in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The solemn moment before Christ is where some will suffer great loss, while others will receive great reward. Because all believers in Jesus are sealed with the deposit of the Holy Spirit, no one will lose salvation (Ephesians 4:30). While no one can earn Jesus’ free gift of salvation, rewards are different.

Rewards are earned by service we perform to others. Jesus will review our report card of service when He comes to hand out rewards (Revelation 22:12). Matthew 25:14-27 is Jesus’ parable of the talents. One servant buried his talent, (a coin worth more than a thousand U.S. dollars). That coin earned no interest upon the master’s return.

The master called this servant, “wicked and lazy,” and took it away from him. He rewarded the other two servants who invested theirs with giving them more. The area of skills God gives believers, a “talent,” is giftedness that we’re to use to benefit others. If we use these gifts selfishly, instead of using as a means of sharing His grace, we abuse the gift AND the giver.

1 Peter 4:10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administrating God’s grace in its various forms.”

The catch is to serve others in secret. For whatever service is done publically, people’s applause is the only reward we’ll get (Matthew 6:1-6)!

Take Home Nugget

The better believers know God, the more we’ll want to serve Him. And our perfect service will come from hearts full of love for others.

Dearest Holy Father, I shudder at the report card of my life that Jesus will check out one day. Please provide me opportunities to cancel out my selfish greed with acts of perfect service to others performed in Jesus’ name. Amen.

J.D. Griffith

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