For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Salvation is a gift that was given to you, not something that you have earned. Our good works don’t lead us to salvation, but they are a result of salvation. Although our salvation is not determined by good works, the way we live our lives on earth determines what our rewards will look like in heaven. 

We have kingdom work that we are assigned to do here on Earth. Your work in this life for God is important because it leads to an eternal reward in heaven. You can’t judge a life based simply on the results you see on the outside. There are heavenly and spiritual things going on inside of us that can only be seen in eternity. When we live lives that are kingdom lives on the inside, someday in eternity, God will reward us long term for the things we have done in secret. 

When we become passionate about the same things God is passionate about, we learn to maximize that gift of salvation that God has given us. We can live our lives on earth to the fullest by allowing our works to become a response to His extravagant gift. As a result, the responsibilities we are given in heaven will reflect how we handled our responsibilities on earth.