“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” – Matthew 25:23
Do you long to hear this from Jesus? You should! This is the beautiful praise that awaits every Christ follower who devotes his or her life to the service of our King and His Kingdom! Part of the famous “Parable of the Talents”, this same praise is given to both servants who were faithful, regardless of how much they’d originally been entrusted with. The beautiful thing about service to God’s Kingdom is that He isn’t interested in our raw numbers. He’s interested in our faithfulness! Did we freely give everything we had into His service? Did we pour out our lives for His glory? Then well done, good and faithful servant!!!
To hear this at the final judgment will be sheer, unimaginable, unmitigated bliss! Better still, if we hear this praise, it’s simply the beginning! Jesus makes clear in this parable that the reward for faithfulness on earth is the eternal enjoyment of God’s joy. “Enter into the joy of your master.” That’s a joy that will never end and one that will, in turn, yield unending joy and satisfaction for everyone who hears it.
Moreover, the reward for faithfulness on earth is greater responsibility in glory. Jesus seems to indicate that in the new earth, His people will have good, meaningful, holy, curse-free, sin-free work to do. We’ll enjoy work the way work was initially created to be in the Garden of Eden before sin turned work into a four-letter word. For those found faithful in this life, regardless of social status, education, wealth, or professional achievements, there will be wonderful responsibilities in service to the King we’ll see with our own eyes! You don’t want to miss all this, so trust in Christ and live to hear these words!