If you have ever invested
time, money, energy, and commitment into God's Kingdom
that no one knew about except you and the Lord, it did
not go unnoticed. The Lord saw it all. And
according to Hebrews 10:35, He plans on reimbursing
you in full!
The phrase "recompense of reward" is from the Greek
word misthapodosia, and it carries the idea of
being reimbursed for an expense that a person has
paid out of his own pocket in order to get his job
done. Here's a situation that is an example of
this definition: A company sends an employee on a
business trip. Because the company gives the employee
no credit card or cash for the journey, the employee
uses his own credit cards and puts his own money on
the table. He willingly uses his own resources, at
least temporarily, to cover these costs and needs for
the organization. (For more on the word misthapodosia.
Of course, it's always nice when an employee can use a
company credit card or corporate cash to handle these
travel needs. But because neither cash nor a credit
card was available at the time, the employee has no
choice but to cover the cost himself and then expect
the company to reimburse him later for these expenses.
Once the trip is over, it's time for him to tally up
the total amount owed. Then he can be recompensed
for what he willingly contributed at a difficult
or inconvenient moment.
Now the Greek word misthapodosia - which
essentially conveys the ideas described above - is
brought into play in Hebrews 10:35, where the Bible
declares: "Cast not away therefore your confidence,
which hath great recompence of reward."
The word "confidence" is the Greek word parresia,
which refers to bold, frank, forthright
speech. This bold kind of speech is often
translated in the New Testament as the word
"confidence." Indeed, it does depict a confident
kind of speaking - a daring to speak exactly
what one believes or thinks with no hesitation or
intimidation. Because this kind of speech is so bold,
it frequently incites a volatile reaction.
Apparently these Hebrew Christians had been speaking
those words a long time - and they had been waiting
and waiting for those faith-filled words to come to
pass. After investing their lives, their time, their
energy, and their faith into their walk with God, they
wanted to see some action! Because their answers
hadn't come yet, they were tempted to throw it all
away as though the manifestation was never going to
come to pass. That's why the verse screams at them,
"Cast not away your confidence." God was saying to
them, "Don't throw away your bold confessions of
faith!"
Why did they need to hang on and continue believing
and speaking words of faith? The verse tells us why:
because their confidence - their bold confessions of
faith - had great recompense of reward. As
discussed above, the word "recompense" is misthapodosia.
God wanted these Hebrew Christians to know:
"...I know what you've done to serve Me. I am
aware of the time, energy, effort, work, and money
you have spent to do the job I sent you to do. Go
ahead and tally up what is owed you, and boldly
declare that you will be reimbursed. I will see to
it that you recoup everything you spent along the
way. You'll get everything that you've spent and
that you've been declaring by faith!"
You may be tempted to feel like you've wasted years
waiting for your calling or your dream to come to
pass. The devil may try to beguile you into thinking
your bold confessions of faith are mere fantasies that
are never going to happen. But God's Word promises He
will reward you for all you've sacrificed and invested
along the way. He has heard every faith declaration
you have made, and He will reward you and reimburse
you for all the time, energy, commitment, and money
you've given over the years! |