Personal Reward vs Kingdom Reward

JEREMIAH 45 v 1-5

Where do I look for rewards?
Baruch first appears in Jeremiah 36, where he wrote the scroll with the words of God on it but then it was burnt. Baruch had been faithfully serving Jeremiah writing all of Jeremiah's life and what God says through him. Baruch became upset because he was looking for personal reward and could not see the reward in God's work. Baruch looked away from God's purposes and focused on his own sacrifices. Colossians 1 v 24 - 2 v 5, Paul is putting forward the point that our suffering and trials are for the Kingdom of God, the question I posed in my devotion towards the beginning of the month was - What am I willing to give up for the Kingdom of God? Baruch had given up his life to do God's will for his life but even while doing that he took his focus off the joy of doing God's will and started to think about all he had given up.

Baruch was from a wealthy and well known family he could have had a high position in the land as a man of intelligence and influence. His name means 'The Blessed' or sometimes when spelt differently 'The Blessed of Yahweh'. Therefore God clearly blessed him abundantly for his service to Him and Jeremiah.
These are some of the thoughts that I think may have been going through Baruch's mind::
- "This is getting too tough."
- "I need to take to a break to find rest."
- "How can I be of any use when I am so worn out."

Baruch might of felt like David in Psalm 69 v 3, "I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. "But was Baruch looking for God or looking for his own reward? In Matthew  6 v 25-27, "²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Jesus calls us not to worry about the things of this world, is Baruch too concerned with his own future? I am more concerned with my own future than with the Kingdom of God?

My final though is this Matthew 6 v 33, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Where am I seeking my rewards? From human efforts or from building the Kingdom of God? The building of the Kingdom of God has the eternal reward with it.