Finishing off from James 1:12
Psalm 73:25 : Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.”
So, how does this command to desire nothing line up with the awaiting a crown? I understood this a little better after a conversation with my husband over dinner. The crown will be given by God Himself, and therefore my desiring of the crown, is a good thing because it is a gift from God. Here is an example:
My husband comes home one night bringing me 7 fresh-picked yellow roses for our 7 month anniversary. He says “Thank you for being my friend.” What would happen to our friendship if I took the roses and threw them in the garbage? I am positive that would not be the reaction that he wanted. But instead, I did what any grateful wife would do: I hugged and kissed him, told him thank you, then placed the sunshine-filled vase in a place where everyone could see – and even posted a picture and put on social media exclaiming what a great husband I had.
The same idea applies for our heavenly crown. Would we want to be handed a dingy crown when we got to heaven? Certainly not. We want a crown reflective of the One who will give it to us. We want to work for the praise of God. And when God gives it to us, we will be thankful because we will fully understand then that our good works were not for our glory but for His (Matthew 5).
When we say we desire a crown, or we work and are faithful to receive the “crown of life” – we desire God’s praise. This is something we should desire. All of life should lead toward hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant.”