A Guide to Investing in Eternity

Why does the Bible contain so many promises to reward?
The answer to that question is the thesis, the central message, of Investing in Eternity:
The doctrine of rewards is an essential teaching of Scripture.
Section 1 of the book discusses why this doctrine is essential to our understanding of God and of God’s purposes. Section 2 describes what is at stake for the Christian. Section 3 discusses the conditions that must be met to receive all of what God wants to give us.
• From Chapter 1: “Overview of the Importance of God’s Reward”
Every book of the Bible speaks of rewards, which are the consequence, good and bad, of our motives, thoughts, and actions. The doctrine permeates the Scripture. There are at least two reasons why God wants us to know of His intent to reward:
First, the Bible’s teaching of reward reveals something important about who God is. God desires to demonstrate His love and holiness in His just rewards for both sin and faithfulness. God wants us to know that he notices when we serve Him. He wants us to know that “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them...” (Heb. 6:10) Furthermore, God demonstrates His love in His promise to reward. As I explain at greater length later, rewards are a loving gift of God’s grace.
Second, rewards are important to God because He wants us to be motivated and encouraged by the promise of reward. He told us of His desire and intent to reward so we would look forward to that reward with greater hope in, and love for, the God who promises it. (You will find more on the importance of rewards to God in Chapter 3: Rewards Are Essential to God’s Character and in Chapter 4: Rewards Are Essential to God’s Gracious Purpose and Goal.)
• From Chapter 4: “Overview of Investing in Eternity”
“Where will your dreams take you?” That was the question on a brochure I picked up at the bank one day. It’s a great question. “Where will your dreams take you?” Indeed, your hopes and dreams certainly will take you somewhere—though not perhaps where you really want to go. Your hopes and dreams will determine how you conduct your life. As Jesus said,
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:34)
• From Chapter 12: “Overview of How to Gain God’s Rewards”
As I drove toward one of my grain elevators, the crossing of the facility’s rail sidetrack, the warning lights were flashing, and the crossbars were down. As a loaded railcar slowly passed, I could see that it was not being moved by an engine, but by Jimmy, my hardworking employee. Throwing his considerable strength and determination into the effort, he was pushing it along the track. But how could the exertions of even a powerful man like Jimmy move a railcar weighing 100 tons!
I smiled with amusement at the seeming impossibility, because I had worked with a civil engineer on the design of that rail sidetrack. It was installed with a grade, an incline, so that gravity does most of the work. Appearances of superhuman strength notwithstanding—by design—all that is required is that the railcar be given a push to overcome the last bit of inertial and frictional resistance.
Now, let me ask a philosophical question of you: Who moved the railcar? Was it the man who pushed or the engineer who designed the track to make use of the law of gravity?
The answer is both, isn’t it? Without the engineer’s design, there is no way on earth the man could have moved such a weight. On the other hand—and likewise, by the design of the engineer—the car would not have moved but for the will and effort of the man. The engineer could have designed the track with a grade steep enough that no human push was required, but, to suit his purposes, he built into the system the requirement of human will and effort.
Likewise, God, the “Great Engineer,” has designed the moral universe—the rail track in our illustration—in comportment with the law of His character. By His plan and preparation—the death and resurrection of Jesus and the provision of His Holy Spirit—He made it possible to move that which, in our own strength, is an impossibly heavy load—to do God’s will.

Our sovereign God can—and does—use us without our voluntary cooperation. However:
by God’s sovereign will and design, our effort is a necessary
(though infinitely insufficient) condition for gaining God’s promised rewards.
We earn God’s reward by fulfilling the First and Second Great Commandments.
• From “Final Words”
And as you travel your sometimes-arduous road in pursuit of God’s reward, remember: To the extent you are faithful with the conduct of your life, when you finally arrive you will be Jesus’s reward, too! You will be His crown! After all, He loves you so much that He died for you. You are the “joy that was set before Him” {Heb. 12:2} when He endured the cross. He wants to lavish praise upon you. He wants to reward you forever with the riches of His grace. Please, don’t disappoint Jesus.
Press on, to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you. (Phil. 3:12)
Please Him. Serve Him. “Throw off everything that hinders....” (Heb. 12:1) It will be worth any cost, because…
God promises to reward!