I believe that one of the greatest surprises we will experience when we finally enter our life beyond this earthly realm will be to learn just how much what we did in this life had a good influence on the life of others. What a shock it will be to hear the witness of others around us as they tell of what it was about us that made a difference in their lives.

The Scriptures tell us over and over that God will show off his kids with the pride of a loving parent who flashes pictures from the wallet in the face of friends and strangers. That is really hard to imagine, isn’t it? What could I possibly have done to deserve that? The simple truth is that God honors those who exhibit faithfulness to him.

The point of all of this is not just to single us out for glory, but to identify what happened as we were faithful to God. Others witnessed our walk! What they saw in our lives—in our demeanor and manner of handling the stuff of life—led them to seek Jesus Christ for themselves. Many of those will credit us with that successful witness to their own faith.

Paul speaks to this in Galatians 1.24: ‘And they praised God because of me.’ WOW! Can we grasp that reality? I can catch a glimpse of this truth when I reflect on my own encounters with the folk who showed me Jesus in my youth. I will be delighted to point out their faith as a witness to my own walk with Jesus. I PRAISE GOD BECAUSE OF THEM! I think I am beginning to understand this heavenly reality.