Thought from today’s Bible reading from Isaiah 44-48.
God desires to bless and reward His people. But the rewards He promises are, and have always been, conditional.
“Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like the sand, and your offspring like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence’” (Isaiah 48:17-19).
Following God’s instructions by walking in His ways leads to a reward. During the time of the Old Law, this reward was physical prosperity, peace, and a continued preservation of the nation of Israel. Today is a little different. We may not have physical prosperity (1 Corinthians 15:19) or peace (2 Timothy 3:12). The nation in which we live could fall, leading to economic instability and hardship (Proverbs 27:24). But God does promise a reward to us if we are faithful today.
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
This reward is the promised rest of a home in heaven (Heb. 4:9; John 14:6). But receiving this reward is conditional (Mark 16:16; Hebrews 4:11), just as it was for the people of God under the Old Law.
Of course, discussing the conditions of salvation will only help if people are paying attention. Faith saves us; but “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Those who obey will be saved (Hebrews 5:9); but we cannot obey if we do not know what to obey. Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8).
Let us be sure we pay attention to what the Scriptures teach.
Tomorrow’s reading: 2 Kings 18:9-19:37; Psalm 46, 80, 135
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.