299. Crown of Righteousness
2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
God promises to give a crown of righteousness to all that love His appearing on that day. Those who believe in Jesus anticipate His glorious appearing. Because Jesus loves us we love Him; because we love Him we love His appearing. One promise we wait for is the crown of righteousness. This crown is laid up for us; it is waiting to be placed upon our head.
The crown of righteousness may also be called the crown of life. We are given life because we are crowned with righteousness. We are righteous and we have life; we don’t enjoy it fully here on earth because sin is still present, taking away from righteousness and from our life. We know that life and righteousness is waiting for us because the sin is forgiven, and when sin is gone only life and righteousness will shine forth in all its glory. And this is why we love His appearing.
A crown does not excite us too much in this day and age. The only crown we really know anything about is the crown of the king or queen of England; and this crown is only ceremonial. But a crown still has profound meaning and weighty authority. It is the symbol of absolute rule. The symbolic meaning is that the one wearing a crown can make decisions that affect lives; he can say whatever he wants and what he says happens; he can do whatever he wants without recrimination; whatever he decides, does, or says cannot be resisted or denied or overturned or ignored. Being a king carries an extremely heavy burden and responsibility. Wearing a crown is actually frightening, but the good news is that it is a crown of righteousness; this means that every decision, word, and action the wearer makes will be right and just and good. It is hard to imagine a life (an eternal one, to boot) in which everything we think, do, say, and decide is always good and right and beneficial for everyone. And that is why we love his appearing.