Hi there,
I suppose you can imagine many prizes, at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation). The Lord sort of opened up my mind, to what they would be. There would be a prize "for the best interpretation of scripture", "most lives lead to the Lord", "most people preached to", "most suffering", "most praise" - you could go on and on. The reason for the prize "for the best interpretation of scripture", is something I want to explain.
I think the reason we strive to understand scripture so consistently, is that we want to please God with our understanding of His Will. What we start to forget is that there is an unknown and a mystery to it - we think it can all be explained. What we need to understand, is that a big reason for studying scripture, is so that we can encourage our brothers and see what they are going through from their perspective. The person who is going through the tribulation, doesn't need to hear about the condemnation of Hell, but the willingness of the Holy Spirit to create a path to God. For all this we need the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is able to tell us, how to make scripture strong, in our hearts, how to draw connections between one scripture and another. The Holy Spirit is able to point out, scriptures that will be relevant in future, or needed by someone whose faith is struggling. This is godly.
There is also the consideration, that without recognition - not necessarily with a prize - we may begin to feel our time on Earth was wasted; not everyone had the gift of preaching, should we all feel bad that we weren't the one to turn away sinners from Hell? No! But this is the genius of the prize "for the best preaching", in Heaven you can always ask the believer that won the prize how they did it and for an opportunity to try it again - in other words you may have an audience in Heaven after all, and a deeper understanding of what it means to preach, because the prize "for the best preaching" had meaning.
God Himself, is worthy of all things, but even then, there will be things He reflects on - the Holy Spirit will remind Him, as He does us - God will ask "who did I spend most time with?" "Who did I encourage the most?" "Where did I find the most love?" These things have meaning.
So I guess what I have been trying to say, is that we don't just go through the motions considering scripture, but that we develop values consistent with how we will be received in Heaven. Now, if prizes are not your thing: you can always opt out - no one is saying this is the only way to Heaven. But consider how Jesus will feel, if, despite having sent the Holy Spirit, you still have not examined your faith at all? And how will you evaluate it, with out valuing something? Not to suggest you are making it hard for yourself, some people have simple faith, but we won't win the prize "for most diverse faith" if we don't let other interpretations in.
As always "by your patience possess your souls" - I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
I suppose you can imagine many prizes, at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation). The Lord sort of opened up my mind, to what they would be. There would be a prize "for the best interpretation of scripture", "most lives lead to the Lord", "most people preached to", "most suffering", "most praise" - you could go on and on. The reason for the prize "for the best interpretation of scripture", is something I want to explain.
I think the reason we strive to understand scripture so consistently, is that we want to please God with our understanding of His Will. What we start to forget is that there is an unknown and a mystery to it - we think it can all be explained. What we need to understand, is that a big reason for studying scripture, is so that we can encourage our brothers and see what they are going through from their perspective. The person who is going through the tribulation, doesn't need to hear about the condemnation of Hell, but the willingness of the Holy Spirit to create a path to God. For all this we need the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is able to tell us, how to make scripture strong, in our hearts, how to draw connections between one scripture and another. The Holy Spirit is able to point out, scriptures that will be relevant in future, or needed by someone whose faith is struggling. This is godly.
There is also the consideration, that without recognition - not necessarily with a prize - we may begin to feel our time on Earth was wasted; not everyone had the gift of preaching, should we all feel bad that we weren't the one to turn away sinners from Hell? No! But this is the genius of the prize "for the best preaching", in Heaven you can always ask the believer that won the prize how they did it and for an opportunity to try it again - in other words you may have an audience in Heaven after all, and a deeper understanding of what it means to preach, because the prize "for the best preaching" had meaning.
God Himself, is worthy of all things, but even then, there will be things He reflects on - the Holy Spirit will remind Him, as He does us - God will ask "who did I spend most time with?" "Who did I encourage the most?" "Where did I find the most love?" These things have meaning.
So I guess what I have been trying to say, is that we don't just go through the motions considering scripture, but that we develop values consistent with how we will be received in Heaven. Now, if prizes are not your thing: you can always opt out - no one is saying this is the only way to Heaven. But consider how Jesus will feel, if, despite having sent the Holy Spirit, you still have not examined your faith at all? And how will you evaluate it, with out valuing something? Not to suggest you are making it hard for yourself, some people have simple faith, but we won't win the prize "for most diverse faith" if we don't let other interpretations in.
As always "by your patience possess your souls" - I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
