God will not forget

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Heb. 6:10

Those to whom the author of Hebrews is writing worked hard at loving others, ministering to the saints through thick and thin, and we can assume that they did so in times of plenty and in times of want, both to the difficult and to the easy to get along with. This was not volunteering on an odd Saturday at the food bank, this was very hard, patient, and sacrificial service.

To get an idea of just how hard this must have been, consider this description of their past: "But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one" (Hebrews 10:32–34, ESV). They had not yet resisted unto blood (cf. Heb. 12:, but they had gotten pretty close.

And yet we don't know a single name in this list of heroic saints, do we? They are nameless, unknown believers whose identities are lost to the mists of time. But here's the thing: God knew them, and he knows them. The world may have forgotten their names, and even the church, but note this wonderful truth: "God is not unrighteous to forget."

My friend, if you have been brought by God's sovereign grace to trust in his Son, then this is true of you. God knows you. He not only knows your name, he knows the number of hairs on your head. And he knows all the work and labor of love that you have expended, often thanklessly, upon God's own people. He knows and he will not forget.

Believer, is this not a comforting thought? Whatever your circumstances today, however little or much men may notice or not of your service, you may mark it down as sure that God takes notice and will never forget your work and labor of love.