The Crown Of Life
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him" James 1:12
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The dentist is not my favorite place to go but it is sometimes a necessity. My jaw tooth began to be sensitive to hot and cold so I decided to have it checked. Turned out it was cracked. At that point the dentist could fill it and it would last a while but eventually it would need a crown he said.
The need doesn't always come at a convenient time. The signs began to develop that the tooth structure was weakening. A long anticipated trip was imminent so I prayed and put off making an appointment till I got back. It did last the weekend but now the time has come to go to the dentist. The final straw was when I almost swallowed part of the tooth during sleep.
I have always thought the term crown for a tooth was odd. The crown I think about is the crown we will receive one day as promised to those that love God. Along with it we will hopefully hear, "Well done my love, my servant you have been faithful in little and I will make you ruler over much".
Like the tooth we find we often are broken and have to go to the Great Physician for healing. We often have to endure pain and sorrow on our journey. But the good news is if we endure and overcome we are promised a crown of life.
The crown of life is for those who persevere in faith through the struggles, temptations, or disappointments life brings. What an awesome picture we can envision of Jesus placing His crown of Life on our heads as we come through on the other side with our eyes focused on Him alone.
May this give you encouragement to finish your race of hardship and testing. To live for eternity with Jesus will make all the hard things worth the journey. These trials remain but for a short while in comparison to the glory we will have with Him one day. Oh how glorious will that be. Let me encourage you to remain faithful in your time of trial. God allows all things to work together for our good
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