Date: July 15, 2026
Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 9, No. 9
“I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everything man does, both good and bad.”” (Eccl 3:17TLB)
What point is Solomon making in our opening bible text? It is that there is nothing we do here on earth that God will not reward us for, not just in heaven but also here on earth.
But then, the time or season that God will judge and reward us for whatever we do, good or bad, is not up to us to determine. Rather, it is up to Him to determine.
All of this is why we need to give ourselves to doing only what is good and righteous in His sight. And even if we should do anything wrong in His sight, we should lose no time to seek and obtain His forgiveness. Otherwise, at the set time or in the right season, He will reward us or our descendants for our deeds, whether good or bad.
For example, when the Shunammite woman began to take care of Elisha anytime he came to her town, she did not know when God would reward her or how He would reward her. She was probably just waiting for a heavenly reward from Him. But a day came when God moved the prophet to minister to her. That, of course, was the end of her barrenness. And she and her family would afterwards go on to experience more of God’s reward for her generosity at some other times in very spectacular ways. (Cf. 1 Kings 4&8)
So, if you are doing good and are not yet seeing God’s reward for it, don’t lose heart. Instead, continue to do good. That is because, at the set time, God will surely reward you. Interestingly, the reward may even extend to your descendants after you. So, always look beyond yourself when expecting God’s reward for obeying Him by doing good. That is because He is able to do immeasurably more than what we ask or think, according to His power that is at work in us. (Cf. Galatians 6:9 & Ephesians 3:20)
In like manner, if you are doing evil, God will surely reward you for it at the set time, if you fail to repent and receive His forgiveness when you can. For example, when Reuben slept with his father’s wife, the man did not say or do anything about it, even though he heard about it. Why? We are not told the reason in the account. It may be that he did not want to place a curse on him and ruin his life, especially since he was his first child. (Cf. Genesis 35:21-22)
But then, we also do not have it on record that Reuben did anything to seek God’s forgiveness and his father’s forgiveness. He just treated the matter as a non-issue, since his father said nothing about it. But when the time came for God to prophesy about his future and the future of his brothers through their father, his judgment came. He was told that he would no longer excel in life. And it was so. (Cf. Genesis 49:3)
Also, when the Amalekites came out to attack the Israelites in the wilderness unprovoked, they thought that the matter would end there. But the matter did not end there at all. Years later, God would visit them with judgment when Israel had their first king. And though the people responsible for the mess were long dead at the time, God paid their descendants the debt of judgment He owed their nation in full. (Cf. Exodus 17:9-16)
So, as I already pointed out, God’s judgment will surely come to each of us at the set time for everything we are doing. That is because judgment, as far as He is concerned, is a debt that He owes each of us. And He must pay it at the set time. We should, therefore, turn away from everything wicked to only what is good. That is the only way the judgment payments being made into our account by God will make us glad and not sorrowful.
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