Work in HeavenSample

We’re in a plan to explore five biblical truths about work on the New Earth. Luke 19:17 hints at the second: We will be rewarded with varying degrees of responsibility based on how we live and work today.

Now, if this sounds new to you, it's not your fault. Many churches never talk about eternal rewards, but Jesus did constantly. One of the many rewards he promised is increased job responsibilities on the New Earth.

This is one of the lessons of Jesus’s parable of the minas (see Luke 19:11-27), which is similar to but distinct from the parable of the talents. The parable features a master (who represents Jesus) who asks a few servants to steward his minas (a form of money) while he goes on a journey. Upon his return, the master turns to the servants who have faithfully stewarded his minas and says, “Well done…Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities” (Luke 19:17).

Many scholars believe this parable reveals a clear truth: While all Christians share equal status as adopted children of God, we will not all share equal station and responsibility on the New Earth.

The great painter and activist Joni Eareckson Tada is properly motivated by this truth: “I don’t want to be among the least,” she told me on the Mere Christians podcast. “I want to do everything I can to be as happy in heaven and as useful to the King as I possibly can.”

Amen. I do, too, And I‘m sure you want the same. So, what can we do today to prepare ourselves for maximum service to King Jesus on the New Earth? Here are two ideas.

First, articulate where you see yourself professionally in 5 million years. Seriously. Make a list of jobs you’d love to do for God’s glory, free from the curse of sin and the tyranny of time. God gave you an imagination and the promise of eternal work you love. I’d be shocked to learn that he isn’t delighted in watching you—his child—use your biblically informed imagination to cultivate greater hope for the future and faithfulness in the present.

Second, write down one thing you can do today to prepare yourself for those roles on the New Earth. Instead of speaking first in today’s meeting, humbly listen to others first. Volunteer to take on the shift or task nobody else wants. Instead of applying for a promotion, consider recommending a qualified friend who needs the raise more than you do. For whoever “wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).