How many times have you heard a family member, a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor, or even an acquaintance complained about how much they hate their jobs and how they cannot wait to find a new job? This is a particularly common occurrence in the work place today. I have even found myself in a similar situation once before. I still regret making the transition.
But, my situation was not half as serious as one of my best friends’. We both worked at the same place and were doing very well; until, for some unknown reason Tim developed an eagerness to jump ship for greener pastures.
Sadly, it was no more than seven months after Tim left his old job for the coveted greener pasture, he got laid off, and that was the beginning of a string of bad luck for the poor guy.
As I reflected on mine and Tim’s poor decision making skills from many years ago, I cannot help thinking about my late grandmother. She mastered the art of idiomatic expressions. She had one for every situation. Her favorite ones were, “A bird in the hand is worth a million in the bushes”. “Don’t be like the greedy dog who let go the bone to catch its shadow”.
Now that I am older and wiser, I understand that the grass is not always greener on the other side. It may look green from afar, but a close up view reveals the faults and blemishes.
That is kind of what Satan, the adversary does to us Christians. He paints a nice and fuzzy picture of the world to trap us back into the old way of living, and if we are not careful we will find ourselves eating among swine like the prodigal son. Thank God, many of us have been there and done that, so we know exactly what it is really like on the dark side–dismal. Nevertheless, some of us still allow the adversary to scam us time and again.
Friends, there is no short term result in the Christian race. That is the reason the apostle Paul who gave up the pleasures of the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, advises us to run with endurance the race God has set before us. He even tells us how to do it–by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Paul goes on to say, “Because of the joy awaiting Him (Jesus), He endured the horrible cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in a place of honor beside God’s throne” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT). ( Isn’t that wonderful?)
Therefore, brothers and sisters, our reward is not temporary like the glitz and glamour of the world. It is real and lasting, but do not look for it on earth. It is in heaven.
Let's Talk Gospel 
And I might add…the Christian walk isn’t a skip through the tulips. It’s hard work!! Great post!!
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Thanks so much for your input Lori. You are exactly right. The Christian walk is not easy. If it were, a lot lot more people would join us. Nevertheless, we must continue to fight the good fight.
God blesses.
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Thanks for sharing Noel. My Pastor once said in a sermon that the grass is not always greener on the other side but it’s greener where you are now if you water and put out fertilizer. God bless your day!
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Thanks so much for your comment, Mark. You are absolutely correct. When it comes to God’s business the grass is green every where.
God blesses.
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It’s so amazing to read this today. I was just thinking how Christ suffered on his way to the cross. And yet I get so frustrated in hard times. Thank you for this reminder that we should not be surprised when we face trials and tribulations.
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Thanks Afi! I truly appreciate your comment. There is an old saying that goes like this: “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. What if Paul and the other apostles had throw in the towel when they encounter adversity.
Thanks for stopping. God blesses.
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Thanks Noel.
Our rewards are in heaven, and we look forward to laying them at the feet of our Saviour, because it is only in His power and His enabling that we are enabled to ‘run the race’.
Praise the Lord, our rewards are also here and now. Our incredibly amazing God constantly loads us with the abundance of His blessings.
The old communist chant of Christianity as “pie in the sky when you die” is erased because Jesus lives and He lives to keep those He redeemed. When we look to Him, obeying His will, life might have its difficulties, but He has made us ‘more than conquerors’ and He will undertake for us. The Christian life is an adventure and brings more blessings than we can number [Psalm 40:5]
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Angela you touched up on a very important point–“obeying Him” (God). Obeying God is a key ingredient in our Christian walk. Genesis 26:2-6 paints a beautiful picture of what can happen when we obey God: “2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
Thanks so much for lending your voice to this very important subject. God blesses.
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Good post Noel. I was listening to a Priest the other day on television and he said, “Satan makes everything so beautiful to us.” “In doing so, this goes against all we believe about him, as when we think of Satan we think of evil and darkness and this is why he can deceive us so well.” He also said this is how he tempted Eve by making the tree of knowledge so inviting to her. This post brought all of that back to me. You are so correct in saying, “There is no short term result in the Christian race.” It is a daily continual process or running it and growing. How foolish we are at times to look for the gratification of it on earth, as we all run it to get to heaven. Good post and God Bless, SR
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Indeed! SR, The Priest is right. Satan behaves like the cunning fox. We cannot out smart him by ourselves. We need Jesus’ help. Therefore, the closer we get to Him (Jesus), the more equip we will be to resist the enemy.
Thank you so much for shedding needed light on this subject. God blesses.
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hmm! thanks for reminding me. Just like Mark Shield’s pastor said, I need to water the grasses here and add fertilizer. Thanks again for dropping by thepraisesofgod.wordpress.com please visit again
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hi Noel, you’ve been nominated for the semper fidelis award so please visit my site for the details. Congrats and stay blessed!
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