The Crown Of Life
Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.
Revelation 2:10
The Bible has much to say about the brevity of life and the necessity of preparing for eternity. We need a new awareness of the fact that death is rapidly approaching for all of us, and that the Bible has many warnings for us to prepare to meet God. The rich with all their wealth cannot buy a reprieve from the death sentence that hangs over every man. The poor cannot beg one extra day of life from the “grim reaper” who pursues every man from the cradle to the grave.
The Scripture says, “What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Even the cynical and secular at times think deeply about life and eternity. I am convinced that if people gave more thought to death, eternity, and judgment, there would be more holy living and a greater consciousness of God.
Too many Christians try to put off the thought of death and of the fact that all children of God will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of how they spent their time here on earth.
Job says that his days are “swifter than a weaver’s shuttle.” In North Carolina I have visited textile mills and have watched the giant looms which turn out cloth for the nation. The shuttles move with the speed of lightning, scarcely visible to the naked eye. The Bible says this is the chronology of eternity. Though you live to be seventy, eighty, or ninety years old, that is but a snap of the finger compared to eternity. Put your hand on your heart and feel it beat. It is saying, “Quick! Quick! Quick!” We have only a few brief years at the most. Let’s live them for the Lord.
Our Father and our God, my life is going by so quickly, and I have so many things I want to do for You and Your Kingdom. Help me, Lord, to choose wisely the activities and projects I undertake here on earth. Let each one glorify and magnify You in some way. Direct me to the things You have in mind for me to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).