WIIFM*
Everywhere I look, there are Help Wanted signs. It seems that anyone who wants to work could find a job. It may be temporary until something you really want is available, but by not working, you’re skills are getting rusty, technology is passing you by, and aside from your leaky bank account shrinking, you’re placing yourself in the way of temptation. You’ve heard the saying that idle hands are the devil’s workshop.
Temptations come in many forms and often we don’t recognize them because they come in packaging attractive to us. We can find any number of things to waste time on instead of looking for work or honing our skills so we have something to offer a prospective employer.
When I was still working
and had the responsibility of hiring new salespeople, I was flabbergasted by the “requirements” of many of the applicants. And this is partially the reason of the title of today’s post: *What’s In It For Me? When the right question should have been, “What can I do, how can I help you grow your business?” And this phenomenon happened a few years before COVID. It appears that we have become a society of takers instead of givers, users rather than creators.
The other contributor to today’s title came from my morning reading in the Psalms, 103 specifically. One of the first questions job applicants ask has to do with benefits: how many holidays, sick time, etc? I’m old school, but it used to be that benefits were a reward for doing a good job. The better the worker, the better the benefits. This is especially true in a sales environment, where results are usually the primary measurement of your job performance.
When I read the word “benefits”
in verse two, my mind started racing to put these thoughts on paper. For those looking for benefits, working or not, you won’t find a better package than this: “Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.(v.2-5)”
These may not be what you had in mind, but as good as worldly benefits are, they will be destroyed in the coming judgment. God’s benefits are permanent. Our guilt from ALL sin is pardoned, our diseases are ALL healed. He has prepared a place in heaven for us (Jn. 14:2,3) where there will be no pain, mourning, crying, death (Rev. 21:4).
For those of us who know Jesus as Savior,
these are promises we can take to the bank. We may not see all of these benefits—God doesn’t heal everybody in their earthly bodies—this side of heaven. But your sins are pardoned…now, your life is redeemed from the pit…now. You are crowned with lovingkindness and compassion…now. And we don’t have to work for it. It’s a free gift from our Father. So we can say with the Psalmist “Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name (v.1).”
For those who are still on the fence about “this God stuff,” it’s not too late. Jesus Christ loves you in spite of your sin, but that sin has separated you from Him. It’s not a permanent condition if you come to Him in humble repentance and honestly desire to do a one-eighty in the time you have left on earth. Otherwise, none of these benefits will be yours. Instead, you’ll be in a dark place forever, alone, in agony, and remembering all the times you were invited or encouraged to seek Jesus and you rejected Him. Don’t wait. Come to Him…now, while he may be found (Isa. 55:6).
In our Steps to Salvation section you’ll find a detailed description of God’s perspective, His grace offered to anyone who comes on His terms, and an assurance if you come humbly, He WILL receive you into His forever family.
And that’s the answer to the question, What’s in it for me?