The crown laid up
For all who love his appearing
Having said he has finished the race, Paul looks forward to what awaits: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. The crown is already laid up, reserved and waiting, kept safe by God himself for the day of Christ's appearing. The faithfulness of this life is met by a reward kept secure in the next.
But Paul does not let the crown be his alone. He adds, immediately and pointedly: and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. The crown of righteousness is not reserved for apostles and spiritual giants, but for all who love the appearing of Christ — for every ordinary believer who has fixed their hope on his return. The reward Paul anticipates is held out to you.
Notice the lovely qualification: those who have loved his appearing. The mark of those who receive the crown is not merely that they believed in Christ's return, but that they loved it — longed for it, oriented their lives toward it, waited for it with affection. This is the blessed hope, Paul calls it elsewhere: the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior. The pilgrim near the city does not dread the end but loves it, longing for the appearing of the One toward whom the whole journey has led. Do you love his appearing?
“There is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.”
— Paul, near the end of his life — 2 Timothy 4:8 (WEB)
Love the appearing of Christ — longing for his return with affection — for the crown of righteousness is laid up for all who do, not the spiritual elite alone.
“Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Christ's appearing can sit at the edge of our minds as a doctrine we affirm and a day we secretly dread, while we assume any crown is meant for the spiritual elite. The interior work is to take the promise personally — that the crown of righteousness is laid up for all who love his appearing — and then to grow that love past mere belief into longing, until his return becomes a homecoming the heart leans toward rather than a date it would rather not think about.
This week, cultivate love for his appearing: dwell on Christ's return as a thing to be longed for rather than dreaded, orient a decision toward it, and let the blessed hope become an affection, not just a doctrine.
The spirit of the age crowds Christ's return out of view or sours it into something to be feared, so the heart never learns to ache for the day it will see him. But a soul that loves his appearing lives already inside the blessed hope, and the crown was set aside for exactly that love.
Paul, having finished his race, looks ahead to a crown already laid up — reserved and waiting, kept secure by God himself for the day of Christ's appearing. And he refuses to keep it to himself: the crown of righteousness is for all who have loved his appearing, not apostles and spiritual giants only, but every ordinary believer who has fixed their hope on Christ's return. The reward Paul anticipates is held out to you.
The qualification is worth dwelling on: those who have loved his appearing. The mark is not merely believing Christ will return, but loving that return — longing for it, orienting life toward it, waiting with affection rather than dread. This is the blessed hope, and the pilgrim near the city is marked by it. Some believers scarcely think of Christ's appearing; some even dread it. The crown is for those who love it. So examine your own heart toward the end of the journey: do you merely believe in his appearing, or do you love it?
- Do I scarcely think of Christ's appearing, or even dread it?
- Do I merely believe in his return, or love it?
- How would loving his appearing reorient my life now?
Lord, I scarcely think of your appearing, and sometimes dread it, when the crown is laid up for all who love it. Make your return my blessed hope. Teach me not merely to believe in your appearing but to love it, longing for the day I see you. Amen.