If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
John 12:26
Music, acting, sciences, philanthropy, arts, and so many more each have special awards given to people who excel in their given field. Climbing the ladder of success is a natural order for humanity. We award those who excel. Even the Bible says, "Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; he will not stand before unknown men." (Proverbs 22:29)
There is no problem with being good at what we do. The problem comes when we place such a value on our awards, our positions, or our identity that we become followers of those things alone. This goes back to the Garden of Eden and the temptation that the serpent placed before Adam and Eve: You will be like God ... when she saw that the tree was good for food, desirable to the eyes, and able to make on wise. (Genesis 3:6) The pursuit of self and the exclusion of God happened right then. Adam and Eve chose to change their audience of One (God) to audience of self and each other instead of God. And so it has been perpetuated ever since. We live for self. We live to be like God--the masters of our own destiny.
When Jesus came on the scene, He called people to repentance--a simple term meaning to turn around. It carries with it the connotation of a change of heart and a change of mind which equals to a change of behavior. This is all rooted in a change of our core belief that everything is about us. Empowered by God's Holy Spirit, we finally see that everything is about God. This is the root of transformation .
This transformation changes us from the pursuit of self. We stop pursuing the accolades of others. This is when we begin to become a God follower--a follower of the One whom He sent into this world to save us. We willingly surrender our identity, our pursuits, and our selves to His plan, His goals, His guidance, and His ways. It's not easy. It is in dying to self that we are born to God. But the blessing is having the God of the universe call us His own. And the assurance is that He will reward those who diligently seek Him and honor Jesus. This reward far outweighs anything that we can ever earn here on earth. This is the eternal reward that comes from a heart that gazes with love on the Audience of One.
Blessings to you!
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