Does God Motivate His People With Rewards?

I believe there is plenty of scripture that supports the idea that God does intend heavenly rewards to be a motivation for Godly behavior while on earth. ( I got these from my favorite Bible search resource, http://bible.gospelcom.net )

Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21)

This is the one that I base my teaching on. It's particularly amazing because Jesus himself says it. The clear implication is, it's *not wrong* for the rich man to want to enjoy the riches he has received. But what requires *faith* is to believe God will reward those who use their wealth to serve others in sacrificial and radical ways, after this life has passed away.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26)

This is another big one. Moses was looking ahead to his reward!

And there are so many mentions in the New Testament about looking forward to heaven and the blessings we will receive based on our faithfulness, it is clear that this is an idea God doesn't want us to miss. And what you *don't* find in the Bible, or at least I have never seen it, is anyone telling God's people to do what is right without anticipating an ultimate reward in heaven. Yes our motivation is love for God and love for people -- but that is not incompatible with looking forward to what God has promised us.

"You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?" The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. (Luke 12:40-44)

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. (1 Corinthians 3:10-14)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
(1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:9-12)

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:2-4)

Also do not miss Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Every message to all seven churches includes a promise of specific rewards if His children listen to the warning and do what He is asking. Some of the promised rewards are pretty mind-blowing and may have had specific meaning to those God was talking to.

It's also important to understand that the reward we are talking about it is not necessarily "riches" or "crowns", although those are mentioned. The biggest rewards will be our new closeness with God, the stripping away of the sinful nature, our fellowship with other believers, and the added responsibilities in the "new heaven and new earth" each servant is given based on his/her earthly faithfulness.

So I think the key is not really adding up in our heads how much money we give as gifts unto the Lord, and thinking Jesus will reward us X pounds of gold or whatever. The key is -- how real is heaven to us? Do we long for it? Is our faith in God's unseen promises strong enough to eclipse the earthly riches we can see? How easily distracted are we from God's priorities? Maybe we need to spend more time in study to get a faith picture in our minds of what the goal truly is and how unimaginably awesome it will be....