The heavenly Jerusalem! The final...
Illustration
The heavenly Jerusalem! The final reward of the Christian! What an inducement to live for Christ! The word inducement is important in life. It means to inspire, to rouse one's interest to become involved. Inducements are frequently used as a means to rouse the interest and lead to the involvement of people. Recently a service club's leaders decided to have their club undertake to raise a large sum of money for what they considered a very worthy cause. But they were aware of the natural lethargy of people to get involved. Because the amount of money sought was large, it would take the cooperation and concerted effort of every club member if the goal were to be reached. But how to get all members excited, that was the big question. Finally a plan was conceived. They would divide the membership into teams of four and have them compete with one another. The winning team would be rewarded with a silver loving cup, bearing the names of the four members of the winning team. The cup would be on permanent display in the club room. The plan was successful and all the members pitched in to win the prize. But put this into perspective. What was the prize? A loving cup! Compare this with the inducement that is held before every Christian. Our reward for faithfulness to Christ will be to inherit the new Jerusalem. That is a reward that can only be described in glorious terms. The believer will find himself in the very presence of God. He will find that there is no longer any sorrow, for God himself will wipe away all tears. Death itself will be forever eliminated. Even pain will be eliminated, for everything will be new and wonderful. No wonder Saint Paul could say: "I press on toward the goal of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ." -- Lentz
