The Full Reward of His Suffering

There is a story of two Moravian young men who, when they came of age, sold themselves into slavery so that they could travel to an island to minister and witness to the slaves there who had no other means of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There was no turning back for them. There was no, “I don’t feel led to do this anymore.” There was no, “This isn’t comfortable anymore.” They were slaves; bound to the mission they began, even unto death.

When the two men were departing on the boat, they looked back to see their church family and physical families standing there on the docks weeping for them as they left. They both knew they would never see them again, yet they both knew they were fulfilling the callings of the Lord in their lives. In a final parting one of the young men looked back and shouted to those standing, “Shall not the Lamb have the full reward of His suffering!”

What is the full reward of His suffering?

My mediocrity?
My hypocrisy?
My laziness?
My selfishness?
My passivity?
My procrastination?

What is the reward of the suffering of Christ? Did He die so that I could live in fear and shame of bearing His name? Did He suffer the wrath of the living, holy, just God so that I could waste my life away indulging in entertainment and selfish gain? Was He bruised and crushed so that I could serve myself and my supposed best interests?

Was Jesus’ physical suffering and death, separation from the Father and endurance of the cup of God’s wrath on my behalf enough to inspire my to live as dead to the world?

The full reward of His life is my life in turn. Christ says I must deny myself, carry my cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34), that I must love without insisting on my own way (1 Corinthians 13:5), that I must crucify my flesh (Galatians 5:24), and that I must present my body as an instrument of righteousness (Romans 6:13).

There is no room for any selfishness. There is no room for seeking after my interests. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live. Rather, He lives in me (Galatians 2:20). I am not my own, for I was bought with a price (Galatians 5:19-20).

God has been convicting me of my idleness and passivity. I definitely do not steward my time in a manner that brings Him glory. As petty as it may sound, media, social networking, and entertainment have swallowed up large portions of my time lately. And all the while, I’ve needed more time.

I need more time to pray because I need to talk to my Dad.
I need more time to read Bible because His word is life for my soul.
I need more time to serve because it helps to rid me of my self-serving nature.
I need more time to share the Gospel because I have no right to keep such truth to myself.

I suppose this is my farewell to not giving Jesus the full reward of His suffering.

He deserves every moment for the love He has shown me.

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