“Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless of his ways will die. He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given” (vs15-17).

God rewards your goodness, so you never have to worry about a payback from humans. When you do good, when you love those who have nothing to give you, then you invest in the Lord Jesus, and He’ll reward you. He says, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast (even the preaching of the gospel), invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14). Your goodness isn’t to earn God’s favor, but it is to help others, even as He has helped you. And, when you give to poor saints, when you bless those who curse you, and when you do good, expecting nothing in return, then God sees your SECRET devotion, and He rewards you openly (Matt 6:1-18).

Bless God for a gospel where every good work is recorded and recompensed with blessing (Matt 10:42). The Lord will bring you to heaven’s bliss, but even now, He gives you grace and peace in service. He says, “I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord” (Jer 31:14). As you love, He is with you. He doesn’t grant us the fullness now, but He does grant us pleasure in obedience in the proper season. Goodness must be rewarded, if we’ll do it, and God says that He sees and pays back everything. Therefore, don’t live for human approval and what you can get out of people. Live to please God by doing others good – others who are poor and needy - and God will satisfy you eternally, and He will encourage you now.

Secondly, be wise in your latter days by believing the gospel now. He says, “Chasten your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on his destruction… listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days” (vs18-20). In long term investing, one key is to start early, because time is on your side. In the gospel, you want to love God now, so that your golden years are spent in the wisdom that you’ve acquired, having helped others and made your own election sure. Many want to come to Christ at the end of life, but there is only one person in the bible who had a death bed confession - the thief on the cross. This reveals that mercy can be obtained in the last hours, but since there is only one, it also reveals that this is not the way to plan your eternity. Do not be foolish now, because you’ll live your life in vain, and your grey hairs will not show wisdom, simply old age and foolishness. How sad it is to see a blind and spiritually ignorant old person. Don’t be one yourself.

You can assure your path by early planning and obedience. I’ve met older couples who worked through the years of struggles to finally become confident and content with each other. They know they overcame divorce and adultery, bills and hardships, and they’ll die together, confidently. Likewise, old saints who’ve served God will have the peace of a life of obedience, as they look upon the Lord Jesus Christ. They will see trials overcome, dangers avoided, and they’ll know God’s faithfulness. How blessed is the old man who can look back upon those he’s helped, knowing God’s love by experience in the latter years. Be wise now, so that you can be wise when you leave this world. Life is too precious to live it in vain, when it could have been spent helping others know Christ and prepare yourself.

Finally, God makes promises to us that fearing Him will work out well. He says, “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil” (vs23). Look at Noah, moving with fear, and see him spared. He was safe inside, dry and chosen, while the ark took the wrath. Look at those who fear God now. You see them tried and struggling, burdened with sin and shame, and seeking REFUGE in Jesus continually. Doing good to others because you fear God may be trying, and patience may go unrewarded by men, but God will pay you back in the End, with satisfaction.

Oh, to know the love of Christ and the safety of eternal bliss… to enter the Kingdom, and then to see God face to face, and to know, forever, that you have been spared, have overcome all things, and you will have nothing but peace and joy continually. Yes, it is an ascending and hard road to heaven, but when you get there, the bliss of no more temptations, trials, or falls, and the peace of salvation from danger and the entrance of eternal ecstasy will satisfy you and make all things sweet. Yes, it is a hard road to heaven, and fearing the Lord means confessing sins and coming to Him repeatedly for strength to obey; it means trusting Christ daily, warring with sin, and it means doing God’s will when the flesh says “no”, but it is something you surely won’t regret in the end.