Traa

 God Remembers Your Labors of

Love

For God is not unrighteous to

forget your work and labour of love,

which ye have shewed toward his name,

in that ye have ministered to the saints,

and do minister.

And we desire that every one of

you do shew the same diligence to the

full assurance of hope unto the end:

That ye be not slothful, but

followers of them who through faith

and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 6:10-12

God rewards your effort. He rewards your

work. He sees it, and He credits it to your account.

He is thankful for the work you have done, and He

demonstrates it by the rewards that He gives to

those who work and serve Him. He's not

unrighteous. He's a righteous God, and when you

work and serve Him, He remembers it. He won't

forget it. There's a reward that comes from

diligently serving God.

The Spirit of God, through the writer of

Hebrews, says that as you minister to God's saints,

you show love to His name. In other words, you

love God by loving those whom He loves.

Some people want to love the Lord, but they

don't love or relate to the people who are on the

earth; yet, the two are tied together. That's why the

first and second commandments are always spoken

together. We are to love the Lord our God with all

our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our

neighbor as ourself, because the love for God

produces love for people. John said we can't say

we love God if we don't love our brother.

Verse 11 essentially says, "We urge, admonish

and entreat you that you would show the same

diligence in your life all the way through. As you

started and as you are doing now, show the same

diligence all the way through your life until you

receive the hope that has been laid up for you."

In Verse 12, we're given a pattern: that you

would follow those who through faith and patience

have inherited the promises. He says, "Don't be

slothful or lazy, but be diligent to follow those who

have already gone ahead."

I like the way the writer of Hebrews expresses

these verses in the J. B. Phillips Translation of the

Bible. It relates more closely to the conversational

tones of today.

God is not unfair; he will not lose

sight of all that you have done nor of

the loving labour which you have

shown for his sake in looking after

fellow-Christians (as you are still

doing).

It is our earnest wish that every

one of you should show a similar

keenness in fully grasping the hope that

is within you, until the end.

We do not want any of you to grow

slack, but to follow the example of

those who through sheer patient faith

came to possess the promises."