Taken from James 1:12:

There was a Saturday each September when I was growing up that was special to my Mom and me.  Most Saturdays in September were spent watching Gator football with my entire family, but on one Saturday night the television when to an entirely different type of competition: the Miss America Pageant.  We would get out some paper and pens and make our secret lists of who we thought would be in the top ten, then then top five, and then finally who we thought would take the night.  My mom and I continued this through my college years and beyond.  Then they switched it to January and put it on cable and it just didn’t seem to be as good anymore.  I remember two things mostly about those nights: spending time with my Mom and about 2 minutes after the crowning of the new Miss, I would alway start a new diet.

The end of each pageant there was a moment all the contestants and viewers awaited: the crowning.  There was a song and flowers and applauding, but most importantly there was the dipping of the head to allow the crown to be safety-pinned on to secure it on the head of the winner.  There were tears.  There were flashes of cameras.  There were scholarships and cars. But, every girl who walked on that stage just wanted one thing: the crown.

A crown has been given to the winner of this pageant since it began in 1921.  For over 90 years, women have wanted to win to earn scholarship many and wear a crown.  The current crown has over 700 jewels on it; a crown which each winner gets to keep at the end of her year’s reign.  The crown has had many changes in designers over the years, but it is always beautiful, shiny, and coveted.

For Christians, we should covet another crown, not the one of earthly mold, but one given to us for completing the race that God has set out for us to run (Eph 2.10)