Matthew 10:40–42 (ESV)
Rewards
40 “Whoever
receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous
person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
I was at a small town festival and there was a booth set up by a church and they were handing out cups of cold water to everyone. They had the name of the church on the booth
with a banner that said Cold Water Ministry. Underneath the was verse 42 “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
It was a cool idea on a hot day. I was thankful and so was everybody else who grabbed a cup. Of course there were some people who didn’t want to take a cup for whatever reason. Now this was a very literal translation of this verse,
but that is ok. I think the point is more about helping out and taking care of other people’s needs, and a cool cup of water was a need on that hot day. We as Christians need to make certain that we are stepping out of our comfort zone and helping
others, actively living our Christian lives. Our reward? Well… through our faith, we have received the faith, the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and heaven itself. What more do we need?
I pray: O Lord, help me to receive others for who they are and to share love, assistance, and Jesus with them. Help us to not do it for reward, but let our motivation be through love and gratitude for what Jesus
has done for us. Amen.