Earthly achievements and heavenly rewards.

Earthly achievements and  heavenly rewards.
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Man is a mysterious creation with two natures in one nature.

One nature > Human nature.

Two natures> 1.Material.
                         2.Spiritual.

It is because he has a body, which is a matter,

and

a soul, which is a spirit.

We know that

our body was taken from the earth, 

where it is destined to return,

and

our soul came from God,

to whom it should return.

Our body and soul joined hands at conception,

and

will wish 'good bye' to each other at death.

During their journey from conception to death

they travel together  helping each other.

Before proceeding further,

we have to answer one important question.

What is the purpose of their

joining together,

living together

and then taking leave of each other?

God created the soul

for  the purpose of

knowing Him,

loving Him,

serving Him

and

being united with Him in heaven  for ever,

enjoying beatific vision,

as a reward for his love and life. 

The body was created

for the purpose of being helpful

to the soul in its God given
duty.

It is now clear that

the body was created for the soul

not vice versa,

just as the world was created for man,

not vice versa.

Now we can infer from the facts given above that

our material life in this world,

which is temporary,  to last till our death,

must be helpful to our spiritual life,

which is lived here

to be continued in the next world without end.

When a master  allots some work to be done by his servant,

doesn't he first provide him with everything

that is needed for the work to be done?

Before creation man was nothing.

When he was created

he was provided by God

with whatever is necessary

for the attainment

of the purpose

for which he was created.

Of course he was created for heaven,

but he has to travel through this world,

which also is to be taken care of

to be of help in his heavenward journey.

"So the Lord God took the man and put him in his garden of delight,

to cultivate and tend it." 
(Gen.2:15)

We see that God put Adam in the garden 'to cultivate and to take care of it'.

Suppose we travel from our house to a far away place by bike ;

needless to say that we should take care of our vehicle during our travel.

It is also needless to say that

we should take care of the world

which has been given to us

to be of help

in our spiritual journey.

God has provided us with talents

that are to used by us

in our material and spiritual achievements.

As our body and soul travel together,

their achievements too will have material and spiritual elements.

We should not forget the basic fact that

just as our body should be of help to our soul

in its spiritual activities,

our material  achievements should promote our spiritual achievements.

Our worldly achievements

must be given life

by spirituality,

not by materialism.

We live for God and God alone.

Each and every movement of our life

must be for God and God alone.

Every achievement of ours must be for God and God alone.

Our achievements must draw us towards God,  not withdraw us from Him.

For a God loving spiritualist, science reveals the glory of God.

Any achievement in science brings out the glory of God to public knowledge.

One who achieves

is in a way an Apostle

as he makes God's message

known to the public.

For a believer

scientific achievement is a spiritual achievement;

because,

he serves to make the world a better world,

which is a service done to God,

for which eternal reward is awaiting him in heaven.

But if the achiever is a nonbeliever,

he does not serve God.

for making the world a better one

he gets his reward in the world itself

in the form of fame or monetary benefit,

but no reward in heaven. 

Even if a believer achieves for self glory,

there will be  no reward in heaven.

All the good works,

done for the glory of God,

earn God's reward in heaven.

''Thus, when thou givest alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and in streets, to win the esteem of men.

Believe me, they have their reward already.     

But when thou givest alms, thou shalt not so much as let thy left hand know what thy right hand is doing,

4 so secret is thy almsgiving to be; and then thy Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward thee. "(Matthew. 6:2-4)

A work is a good work

only if it is done for the glory of God.

Otherwise, it is an ordinary work,  with no reward in heaven.

With the talents gifted  to us by God,

we can achieve a lot materially,

in various fields,

such as education, industry, science, politics etc.

But the material  achievements should not in anyway be harmful to our spiritual life.

We can spiritualize our material  achievements, by offering them for the glory of God.

There are also purely spiritual achievers

who have fully  dedicated themselves for spiritual life,

leaving the world and its pleasures for good,

in order to serve in the vineyard of the Lord .

They are full time servants of God

who care a hang for earthly achievements.

They don't consider their achievements as  achievements,

but as their duty to be done.

"when you have done all that was commanded you, are to say, We are servants, and worthless; it was our duty to do what we have done."
(Luke.17:10)

Such people's reward in heaven will be great.

In short,

all the achievements,

whether earthly or spiritual,

done for the greater glory of God,

have their reward in heaven.;

if done for self glory,

they become unworthy of any reward.

So let us live only for the glory of God.

Lourdu Selvam.