READING: Ezra 7-10, Psalm 97, Revelation 4
I remember as a young believer hearing that we were working for “crowns” in heaven. That is, we would serve God faithfully here on earth, and He would reward us with different crowns in eternity. I can even recall charts that listed and described various types of crowns we might get. Being both zealous in my Christianity and competitive in my fallenness, I set out determined to accomplish every crown I could possibly get.
What I didn’t understand then was that I would realize just how unworthy I am when I finally stand before Christ—and know that in no way would I deserve any crown. Indeed, to make a crown a personal goal was to miss what heaven is all about anyway; it’s about Christ, not about us. Only He will sit on the throne, and only of Him will we cry out, “holy, holy, holy.” Only He is the eternal One who “was, and is, and who is to come” (Rev 4:8). I am but a saved sinner whom God has graciously chosen to redeem. My response to Christ, then, ought to be what the 24 elders did with their crowns: cast them before the One who alone is worthy.
I should want to earn a crown simply so I have something to throw before Jesus’ feet—not so I have something to brag about.
PRAYER: “Lord, You are holy, and I am not apart from You. To You belongs all the praise.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Nehemiah 1-3, Revelation 5