Benefits of Following God

Pastor Bill Zacharda
July 13, 2008
Selected Proverbs

Introduction: Jesus’ parable of the workers in a vineyard has a great moral to the story. Do you remember the parable? Some workers were hired at the crack of dawn, some were hired later on and some were hired only for the last hour and yet all received the same wage at the end of the day. If you worked all day and received the same wage as someone who worked for one hour would you be upset? It seems unfair that someone who worked with the Master for only an hour received the same wage as one who spent the whole day in the Master’s vineyard. So those who were hired early in the morning were angry but the Master reminds those who hired on first that they had contracted for a specific wage and that is what they got. If he also wants to pay the same wage to those who only worked one hour, what’s that to them? He can do what he wants. That’s the end of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 20. Was that fair? Yes, it was. But what does this story mean for us?

Well I like to use this story as an analogy to Christians working in the Lord’s vineyard. What do those workers who started early in the morning get that the one hour workers did not get? Whether you accept Christ on your deathbed or have been a Christian all your life, everyone gets paid the same with heaven, and that’s one moral to the story. Still, following God all through your life has some special benefits. We forget that there are benefits of working with the Master or being a Christian over a long period of time.

This second lesson is taught in many of our proverbs today. There are great benefits to following God for a long period of time. You may not be able to take these benefits to the bank, but they do show up in your character, in your relationships and life experiences. There are definite benefits to following God. I have gleaned three wonderful life-long benefits of following God. You have guidance that brings confidence in your living. You earn a good name. And you have joy built on a solid hope. These are three important benefits of being a Christian and following God. These are also some of my favorite proverbs.

1. Let’s start with the benefit of guidance that brings you confidence. Let’s read Pr 3:5&6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Wisdom doesn’t have much to do with how old you are. There are old fools as well as young fools. Wisdom has everything to do with knowing and following God’s Word. Trusting in the Lord gives you confidence that He will make your paths straight. ***The most valuable lesson I learned as a young pastor was trusting the Lord and leaning not on my own understanding: writing sermons, counseling, visiting in crisis situations. Trust the Lord. He will show you the way. *** The Lord’s guidance that brings you confidence is a tremendous benefit.

Since the end of March when I started this series on Proverbs, we covered around 150 Proverbs on money, family relationships, honesty, justice, love and friendship, temptation, working hard and working smart, and the use of words. In each proverb it always was stated or implied that if you follow this sage advice things will go well with you or turn out well for you. You see, the more skilled or wise you are at living in the present, the more confident you become to face an uncertain future. God gives us that confidence by showing us his way. That’s a great benefit. Let’s read 3:25-26: “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.” Amen? Too many people worry about the future because they have no skill of living in the present. Trusting God has this reward of being confident that all will go well. Let’s read 16: 3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

One reason a person has confidence when they trust the Lord to make their paths straight is that they have inner peace from a clear conscience. Following God gives you a good conscience. Let’s read the next one: 28:1 “The wicked man flees though no-one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” A clear conscience brings one confidence of being the King of the jungle! There’s little confidence when you have regrets, feel like you are running away from something, have a bad conscience or there’s no direction to your life.

2. The next reward of following God is that you earn a good name. When I started my first pastorate I was asked to do a funeral of a man who was just an ordinary person. He wasn’t in Who’s Who. He wasn’t wealthy. He was just a quiet and decent man. He was loved by his family and friends. In his Bible was a piece of paper with a request that the pastor preach on Proverbs 22:1 at his funeral. So it did. It became one of my favorite passages. Let’s read it together. 22:1 “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold”. I don’t need anything said at my funeral, but I would hope that my wife and children would think that I was a decent man who had a good name, a man of integrity. Reputation and self-esteem is important to me. And it comes to those who follow God over a long period of time. It is another tremendous benefit.

Let’s take a second look at this proverb. It’s meaning is unmistakable. Riches can be a blessing from God; but even great riches is useless if gained at the expense of one’s reputation. Have you earned a good name? A good name is all about integrity and integrity is all about character. At the end of life a good name should be highly prized more than the size of one’s bank account. A good name means a being honest, trustworthy, good, and loving. The level of integrity the Bible calls us to is being like Jesus even when nobody’s looking. It’s living in line with God’s standards.

There’s a sequeal to this proverb in Ecclesiastes that leads us into our next point. Let’s read Ec 7:1 “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.” A good name leads to a good ending. Your day of death will only be better than your day of birth when you have a sure hope in Jesus Christ.

3. So, thirdly, do you have joyful life built on a solid hope. I preach as much and sometimes more to myself in every sermon as I do to you. One Proverb that has become my “new” all-time favorite is 13:12: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” As I approach retirement, I have been thinking about this proverb a lot. What do you long for? What goals have you set for yourself? Is your hope a sure one? What does God have to do with your longings and your future hope? Are your longings and hopes in line with God’s Will? That’s a lot to think about ! Isn’t it?

I have spent much time thinking about this proverb. What longings will be fulfilled and make those retirement years a tree of life? Is life droaning on for you or do you have longings within God’s Will that are being slowly completed like a growing tree of life. Let’s read 13:19a “A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul....”

Too many people are heartsick because their longings are deferred. 15:13, 13 ¶ A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. 30 ¶ A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones. People can not live for long with frustration, depression or heartache, they need encouragement to continue on.

At Rose Hill we have a ministry of encouragement to help people realize their hopes and longings. Christiana Hunt had a dream to be in Morocco and you helped to make that possible. Elise had a longing to minister to kids in Siberia and you helped to make that possible., Bill & Julie’s hope of putting the Bible on tape for different tribes or Jack Chinchen’s longing for a college in Liberia need the encouragement of helping hands.

The new testament has a lot of one another passages. Be devoted to one another, be in harmony with one another; instruct one another; encourage one another, love one another; and spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

1Th 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Pray withn oneanother; love one another;

Let’s end this series with a word of encouragement in 24:13-14 “Eat honey, my son [and daughter], for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”