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"Whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord."
Ephesians 6:8

Have you ever found yourself teaching someone, especially your kids, about God's truths, and all the while you were sweating just a bit? I don't mean you're hot. I mean you are teaching your kids to do the right thing and panicking just a little because the results are completely out of your control. "Do the right thing, and trust God to take care of the rest," you say. Then you gulp, wipe the perspiration off your forehead, and say to yourself "I sure hope God comes through on this one."

Several years ago, I remember one particular time when we had a chance to sweat, both literally and figuratively. The lesson: God rewards us when we serve.

Our boys all play football. One week we were leaving a Saturday game, and Scott noticed this guy picking up all the trash in the bleachers. And as most of us are prone to do, Scott spoke before he thought.

"Are they paying you to pick up all this trash?" Scott asked.

The guy gave us this funny look. "No, I'm the president of the league. I have to stay until all this is clean."

At that point, I knew we were committed. No good Southerner, or Christian for that matter, could walk away and leave one guy to pick up a whole stadium full of trash. Inwardly I was groaning. But the older my kids get, the easier it is to act the way I would want THEM to act. "Smiles, everyone, smiles, " I was thinking to myself when what I really wanted to do was give my husband the evil eye. So we all helped-- all six of the Mathews. Some of us helped more vigorously than others-but we all helped. A few others joined us, and in about 30 minutes, we had both sides of the bleachers clean.

Finally we got to pack our shoulder pads and go home. And-with a sense of great satisfaction, I realized that the boys had not complained one time. They had picked up trash for a complete stranger after six hours in the blazing sun, and they had not grimaced one time. Let me qualify-they weren't singing praise choruses, but they weren't griping either.

We wanted so much to reward them for their work. But even more, we wanted God to reward them for their willingness to serve. And since we always run out of money before we run out of month, we were in a prime position to see what God would do. And that is where the figurative sweat came in. Would God reward them in a tangible way?

We walked toward the gate, past the few remaining workers and got a "thank you" from several people. It was rather satisfying to have done a good deed for the day. We were 20 yards from the exit, and the Jamba Juice man got our attention. "Would you guys like a free smoothie?" he asked. I almost fell over. The boys' eyes were big and their tongues were hanging out. "Sure!" "We'd love one!" "Wow!" "Thanks."

The smoothie was a treat from God- one we wouldn't have gotten had we not stayed late and served. I should have relaxed a little more because God is always true to His word. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:8 "Bondservants, be obedient doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free."

"Inspiration For You" from Randy Mitchell

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