Some people have plastic or paper crowns. Some are even made out of brown paper sacks. Others end up with crowns of precious metals and priceless jewels.
And the question for some is this: What do I get for my particular crown? Isn’t it better to have the expensive crown and to abhor the paper one? Well, in the end, if that’s all you get and you know it, which makes you look more stupid? There was a man spoken of in Tom Nelson’s book The Problem of Life with God, and this man worked as hard as he could in order to earn a very decent living for himself once he retired. The day of his retirement, he had a heart attack. He ended up dying. He probably got an expensive crown. So what? You can find something to enjoy in life and you can work at it until the day you die, diligently and obsessively expounding on this passion of yours. But when you die, what will you show for it? Will you take that passion into the grave to proudly display to the dirt? What’s the dirt going to care? There is only one thing that can last for absolutely EVER. You don’t work for it. You don’t pay money for it. You don’t look for it, and you can’t find it. You can’t touch it. You can’t hold it. Sometimes, there are records of people who couldn’t even keep it. It is delicate like an ancient vase. You have to guard it with your life. It “costs” more than anything this world has to offer, and more than the entire world could afford. It comes from One who was before the beginning and will be forever after the end. And the only way to have it is to get it HIS WAY. Because you are small and because you are mortal, your ways have no comparison to His. He knew you before the beginning of the world. He will not offer you the world. He wants you to remove yourself from it and come to Him. Two thousand years ago, He loved you enough that He sacrificed Himself just to make the payment you can not make. Let every man be a liar. No man seeks on his own. You, apart from the glory of your Creator, have nothing and are nothing and can do nothing. And you’ve got two choices. You either continue striving for that priceless crown which your family will not fit in your grave…or you can toss your crown at His feet and say, “You are the LORD and there’s nothing I can do but put everything down and follow you.” Don’t make the stupid choice. NOW will not last very long. Stop living in NOW and think about not only “your future”, but ETERNITY. You’ll be there for quite a long time.
