Why is an Olympic gold medal so highly prized? Its monetary value is only about two hundred dollars. What the medal represents, however, is a lifetime of strenuous effort, pressing toward a goal. The gold medal may not be worth much in the fiscal sense, but all who see it recognize the sacrifice that has gone into winning it. For that reason, it is considered a prize worthy of the quest to obtain it.

Christians, likewise, seek a reward which cannot be quantified in dollars and cents. To those who prize only the material, the prospect of an eternity in heaven has little meaning. But a heavenly hope is of infinite value to the true children of God, because we recognize the sacrifice the Father has made to make it available for us (Acts 20:28) — as well as the sacrifices we have made in order to obtain it as our own.

If one doesn’t understand the greatness and gravity of the event that occurred at Calvary — that the only begotten Son of the Creator of all things, Himself divine, surrendered the glory of heaven and died for the sins of His creatures (Philippians 2:5-8) — he cannot comprehend why an eternity with God would be such a big deal. To those without this understanding, the whole concept is just so much “pie in the sky by and by when you die.” Most people want their pie now, with ice cream on it, and whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry. Instant gratification is all they know.

In Christ, we learn that today is not all there is, and that the concerns of the immediate are only temporary. Life is a process, a continuum, a stream — one that does not end at the grave, but continues for an infinity beyond. We, then, can see heavenly reward in context as the outcome of a God-serving life, and in fact as the continuation of that life. To the Christian, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). In that context, the trials and travails of life are only the scenery along the path to eternal glory (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Here, really, is one triumph of faith — being able to conceive of greater worth in things which cannot be seen or felt than in those things that can. Abraham was a wealthy man, perhaps as wealthy as any in his day. His son Isaac and grandson Jacob were likewise. Yet of these men the Bible says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland” (Hebrews 11:13-14).

Here were rich men who saw true wealth as being not what they had, but where they were going. Their glory would be in sharing that which would not even become available until centuries after their deaths (Hebrews 11:39-40). If only we had a fraction of their faith!

The Israelites sojourned forty years in the Sinai wilderness. Forty years, from a human perspective, is a long time. Of those who began the journey as adults, just two men — Joshua and Caleb — would survive to enter Canaan. Along the way they witnessed the deaths of thousands of their kinsmen and friends. How sweet it must have been at long last for these two men to stand together on the soil of the promised land, in full recognition of how costly in human terms the trip had been! Do you suppose for a moment that they thought it hadn’t all been worthwhile?

You and I, as the song goes, are “camping toward Canaan.” The journey is long, and difficult, and fraught with peril at every turn. There will be millions who began the sojourn who will have fallen by the wayside before we all arrive in the promised land. Only a few will persevere to the very end. For those who do, the most blessed of rewards awaits — resting forever in the light of the living God.