Crown of Life

 *12*Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. *13*Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. *14*But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. *15*Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 

*16*Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. *17*Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:12–17.

God promises you the crown of life if you love HIm. Loving God means having a relationship with Him that includes spending time getting to know Him, listening, expressing joy and gratitude, being obedient, and trusting Him when you are tested. These things strengthen the depth of relationship you have with God and therefore lead to growing in the steadfastness that James is keen for us all to know. As you can probably tell, this is not an easy task. In fact it takes extensive training, pain and discomfort to become steadfast in your relationship with God and to gain the crown of life. Like anything worth having it will take time, effort and require sacrifice just like trying to gain any other crown or trophy. People compete, practice and dedicate their time, even their lifestyle to gain trophies and crowns. The highlight of their lives, the momentous achievement of a lifetime, worth the discomfort and sacrifice to get the glory of the competitive crown. Yet how long does an Earthly crown or trophy last? The attainment of the prize requires years of discipline, dedication and self-denial, but the glory lasts only moments in comparison. 

Living to attain the crown of life also requires sacrifice, effort, and discomfort. It takes a lifetime of dedication, discipline and self-denial to truly follow God and to love Him. It takes a lot of practice, mistakes, trials and triumphs to gain steadfastness and the crown of eternal life. This crown is not just a transient trophy or a briefly held prize - It is an eternal reality. A symbol of a faithful life lived, a promotion to authority and a well-earned, everlasting prize, and you can have it! The question is, are you willing to live your life to attain it? 

It takes training to live a steadfast, God-honouring life. That is the only way you will get this crown of life, are you training yourself to get it? 

Everyone has something that they are training for in life, whether you realise it or not. You have something(s) that you plough your time, effort and money into, things that you are dedicated to and upon which you base your lifestyle and decisions on. These things can be healthy goals, or things that aren’t. Either way, you can become fixated and overwhelmed with what living to achieve these things really means. Sometimes these goals can end up becoming pits as the desire or achievement is never satisfied or fulfilled. It can become an endless, tiresome cycle of desiring bigger and better and can lead to anxiety, worry, frustration, feelings of ‘not good enough’. It can seem like an endless tireless treadmill. So, I wonder, today, what would you say you are living for? Are you competing for; a crown? Promotion? More money? Better life? Fitter body? The crown of life?

God has promised that you can have this crown of life. It is available and waiting for you. Are you going to follow Jesus wholeheartedly through thick and thin through times of disappointment and success to get it? If you do, you can be assured that at the end of this earthly existence, you will be crowned with life. Not a temporal crown that will be passed onto the next person when the competition is won by someone else, but this crown, the crown of life, is personally promised by God as part of your eternal inheritance. It has been set aside for you to wear. You have an eternal future waiting for you where you can be crowned a champion by God - Are you willing to live your life in such a way that you can earn that future?

There is valid warning following the promise of this crown in the verses above -  temptation is lurking. In the quest for relationship with God, a good holy, healthy life and the goal of the crown of life, there will plenty to try to take you off track. There will be outside influences, but also the ever-present temptation from within. James wants you to understand that growing in steadfastness, loving God and gaining the crown of life means walking away from sin. So, you need to know where sin comes from. It is not from God, not from the devil, but comes from your own desires. Some of the desires inside of you are not in  line with God, and they can easily lead to temptation and sin, 'and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.' Not a pleasant thought, but a reality. James doesn't want you to think that you can have both; the crown of life and sin. Living an earthly existence to gain eternal life looks like denying your own desires and living for God. It sounds flippant, but it is true. You need to realise and get to grips with the fact that all of your sin is dead. Jesus embodied it all and he was tortured and killed - 100% dead, so that you could know that all of your sin is 100% dead. If you believe in Jesus and live a life honouring God, the reality is you are free from all sin. Yet you are not free from temptation. That still stems from your desires, yet you now have the choice whether you step into sin or not. This is what it means to run the race of life living to attain the crown of life. There are obstacles, things that try to trip you up. They are not from God. If you want to live for God, love Him and get your eternal inheritance, then you need to be aware of yourself, your own desires and temptations so that you learn how to combat the desire to sin. It is true, it is hard work, it requires self-denial, a change in lifestyle perhaps and a life's work of dedication. Are you up for it? 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change' God has this perfect gift of the crown of life awaiting you, are you living to attian it?

If you do well, will you not be accepted?

 Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. *3*In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, *4*and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, *5*but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. *6*The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? *7*If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 

Genesis 4:2-7

What was Cain’s problem?

Some may know the section of scripture that comes next, but do you notice the indicators in these verses that something is wrong? Clearly, Cain wants to be the best, and be recognised as not just being accepted, but better than his brother. When he is not, he becomes jealous. This leads to disappointment and anger, but not regret or remorse. It seems that Cain’s offering was more about himself than about honouring God. He did it so God would be happy and commend him, instead God challenged and corrected him, yet Cain would not heed the advice. God even warned him that his mindset could lead to sin - so far he had not sinned in this situation, but God told him that if he didn’t sort out his own heart and response then it would lead somewhere he shouldn’t seek to go. The encouragement for Cain was to listen to instruction and learn to manage himself, to learn self-control. 

This is the kind of worship God seeks.

Are you someone that gets jealous of others? That looks around to see if you are better in your own eyes than yours around you? Have you  ever been corrected but been more offended than consider if it’s true or not? 

If so, what do you think God would be saying to you right now?

You could even be doing things for God, worshipping, sacrificing, living a ‘christian’ life, but if you’re doing it all to gain recognition from God or man, then you are in danger just like Cain was. Your heart will become prideful, if it isn’t already, and you need to watch out for the sin that is crouching ready to take you out. 

Listen to God’s advice; ‘If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.’

Watch out for yourself, if you catch yourself comparing yourself to others or being jealous of the gifts of others or their commendation, then take a step back and refocus. It’s an opportunity to consider - are you doing well? Is God getting your best? 

Cain’s gift could not match Abel’s gift in one way, because they had different workloads and responsibility, yet Cain could still of brought the best of what he had rather than be in competition with those around him. Cain could have accepted the rebuke and restored the relationship between himself and his brother and between him and God, yet he allowed his disappointment in himself to turn into self-pity and hatred. 

Be warned! Be aware of your own heart and mind before God and others. The temptation will be there, but are you willing to admit it and ask forgiveness? Are you willing to restore your relationships and heal your heart? Will you watch out over your own heart and reactions? 

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.