God is the administrator of justice in this temporal life and in the eternal life beyond.

I’d like to say that again, but in a slightly different way. There is one life … experienced both temporally and eternally, and God’s sovereign justice infuses it all.

And I gotta believe that true justice is really that – it is true, and it is justice. Somehow, some way, it all evens out for everyone … eventually.

So if you’re cheating life, or cheating your neighbor, and you feel like you are getting away with something, I want you to know that some day you will receive your due. I believe that God’s justice demands it.

And if I am deluded and somehow think that God’s true justice does not apply to me, I am just that … deluded. One day I am going to reap my reward. The Bible puts it this way – by our standard of measure we will be measured in return.

What goes around comes around.

The exciting news is that if you are genuinely, lovingly, quietly, honoring life and reflecting God’s live-giving ways, you have peace in your heart and look forward to what God has planned for you.

Not only is God’s justice true, but God’s foreknowledge is real, and as a result I have this feeling that sometimes we pay in advance, or get paid in advance. In other words, we should not expect all of the reward (good or bad) to come after the word or deed. Instead, I think that we can expect some of the reward (good or bad) to come before we actually do or say something deserving of a specific reward.

Pay in advance … or get paid in advance.

I have a hunch that sometimes we are blessed in advance because God knows beforehand that we will do or say something to reflect God’s love, and that specific blessing-in-advance could come moments, days, weeks, or years in advance.

On the other hand, sometimes we are rewarded in advance with trouble, heartbreak, financial setback, sickness, or whatever because God knows that we are about to do or say something NOT reflective of God’s love, and that specific hardship-in-advance could come moments or even years in advance of our life-negating word or deed.

Today is the day, and now is the time … for you and me … to do and say the things that give life, and reflect God’s love.

Invest now in the eternal.

And who knows, we might just receive a blessing today for something we will do or say years down the road. Set your heart, and so be it.