1 Timothy 4

"8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."

Godliness with plump is better than ungodliness with muscles :) . We all know that what is physical is temporary, and what is spiritual is eternal. This verse illustrates just that. Albeit an easy concept that we already understand, practicing it can be difficult when we are shortsighted. Many times we concentrate on what is right in front of us instead of our eternal life. When in fact, what is right in front of us will not benefit us in the long run, and I mean, the loooooooooong run.

We lay up treasures on earth instead of in heaven because we receive instant gratification on earth. Heaven may be so far fetched and out of reach that we do not think of the rewards we may receive. Especially when we know with certainty that when mom says we will get $10 (7.5 Euros) if we make an A (1 for Germany) on the exam tomorrow, mom means it and we really get the money the day we bring home the A. Although you have to wait a little, but you know it's coming, and you can predict when it will happen, because you trust the teacher always grades her papers that day and return it the next day.

But with eternal rewards, we don't know how long we have to wait, and we can't predict what will happen and when it will happen; on top of that, perhaps we don't even trust in our Father's promise more than we trust our mom's. Which brings us to the difficulty of working towards our spiritual reward rather than our physical reward.

Many times we say we trust God, but if we truly think about it, do we really? Especially in bad times, when we may think God is unreliable, and why we are being punished instead of being rewarded. But we must remember, our reward is in the life after, and not in this life. Now the hard part is trusting in that promise and believe that it will come, like the $5 (7.5 Euros) will come when we've accomplished the mission and met the standard.