“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” Mark 9:41
We may lose when we give, but when we give in the name of Christ we will not lose our reward.
Of course we are all tempted at times to do things for our own glory or in our own name, to build a name for ourselves.
The Bible talks about this Matthew 6:2 and 5:
“Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
Humanly speaking, it is so easy for us to get caught up into doing things for the praise of men.
I had just finished up my first year of Bible college. Our church was hosting a Vacation Bible School. I remember sitting in the back seat of our family's car arguing with my 15-year-old brother about whether the visitors who came that day were mine or his.
I have often thought since then that if I had been serving for the glory of God that day it would not have mattered to me who got credit for the visitors. In fact, if I had not been so full of myself I may have realized my relationship with my brother was far more important than who had the most visitors.
A sure fire way NOT to lose my reward is to take myself completely out of the equation. This means I need to lose myself. It’s not about me. It’s about Jesus!
Theme Verse:
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.” Mark 8:35
“Lose” from the Greek word “Apollymi” means “to destroy fully.” It is translated “shall” “lose” in Mark 9:41, our verse for today.
“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” Mark 9:41