Could you imagine what it was like playing for the Dream Team in the Olympics! You would not only be on one of the best teams in the history of basketball, but you would also be representing your country and the whole world would be watching! Your goal would be to win it all and get a gold medal, the highest award given. Think what it would feel like to stand on the podium and hear your national anthem and have them come and put that medal on you. One thing about it though is that you have to be a citizen of your country to compete for your nation!

TRAINING

The same thing is true for every person who says they are a Christian. Ephesians 2:19 says “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Are you presenting God’s household well? Are you putting in effort worthy of God? Will you stand on God’s podium to receive rewards?

We all need to be training so that we will be ready to compete when the time comes. This requires you not only learning what God wants by reading His Word, but also living it out daily.

Remember that to compete for a nation you have to be a citizen of that nation. To receive a reward from God one must be a citizen of heaven. This is accomplished by our adoption as sons and daughters by God as a result of our faith in the finished work of Christ. Don’t confuse rewards and salvation.

Don’t confuse rewards and salvation. You are not competing for citizenship but because of citizenship.