Earning Divine Reward
People whom God has blessed with money generally pay their employees and subordinate workers only the regular salary or payment. On the other hand, they very happily donate large amounts of money to conferences, relief funds and big institutions. If you ask them why they do this, they will reply, ‘What we pay our employees or workers is the payment for their work. We won’t get any divine reward for this payment. They have served us, and we have compensated them. What divine reward can we get from this? By paying them a salary, we’ve settled our matters with them. In contrast, the money that we donate to institutions and for community work will surely earn for us divine reward!’
But the reality of the matter is quite different actually. And this reply is simply an effort to conceal the real story. The fact of the matter is that deep inside his heart, ever person nurses the desire that if he gives something to somebody, he should receive the reward for it in this very world. The poor man wants this recompense in the form of money. The rich man wants to be compensated in the form of social status. This is the hidden desire that often drives rich people to donate huge amounts to various noteworthy causes.
Obviously, a poor employee or worker does not have the financial capacity to make large donations. Unlike the rich, he does not have access to newspapers, who can report about him, on to the public stage, where he can garner publicity and fame. He does not have any fancy institution or a band of sycophants to welcome and cheer him. But when a rich man makes a donation to a famous institution or a laudable community project, he expects an impressive reward for it, in the form of being invited to preside over meetings, a prominent seat in public functions, a hearty welcome wherever he goes, a big boost in his social status, wide coverage in the media and a place among ‘the rich and the famous’.
Divine rewards for giving to others have to do with the intention behind the act of giving. Divine reward for giving is for that giving that is done only for God’s pleasure. Divine reward is for that giving that is done for the sake of God, in a low-profile way and away from limelight. It is for that giving that is informed by no factor other than earning God’s pleasure.
If you have already obtained the reward for giving in this world itself, what more reward do you think you will get for it in the Hereafter?
