The Crown of Life 生命的冠冕

[Dexu Xia]

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.  James 1:12 nlt

Twelve-year-old LeeAdianez Rodriguez-Espada was worried that she’d be late for a 5K run (just over 3 miles). Her anxiousness led her to take off with a group of runners fifteen minutes earlier than her start time with participants of the half-marathon (more than 13 miles)! LeeAdianez fell in pace with other runners and put one foot in front of the other. At mile four, with the finish line nowhere in sight, she realized that she was in a longer and more difficult race. Instead of dropping out, she simply kept running. The accidental half-marathoner completed her 13.1-mile race and placed 1,885th out of 2,111 finishers. Now that’s perseverance!

While undergoing persecution, many first-century believers in Jesus wanted to drop out of the race for Christ, but James encouraged them to keep running. If they patiently endured testing, God promised a double reward (James 1:4, 12). First, “perseverance [would] finish its work” so they could be “mature and complete, not lacking anything” (v. 4). Second, God would give them the “crown of life”—life in Jesus on earth and the promise of being in His presence in the life to come (v. 12).

Some days the Christian race feels like it’s not the one we signed up for—it’s something longer and more difficult than we expected. But as God provides what we need, we can persevere and keep on running.

By:  Marvin Williams

What difficulty are you enduring right now? What can you do to remain faithful to God as you undergo testing?

Dear God, my legs are tired, and I feel like giving up. Please strengthen me.

上帝赐福给耐心忍受考验和试探的人。—雅各书1章12节，新普及译本

12岁的李·亚迪娜﹙LeeAdianez Rodriguez-Espada﹚准备参加5公里赛跑。她十分担心自己迟到，到达起点时，她误以为比赛已经开始，便匆匆加入与参赛者一起跑。其实那是超过20公里的半程马拉松，开始的时间比5公里的赛跑早15分钟。亚迪娜跟随其他参赛者的脚步，一步一步往前跑。跑到6公里时，还看不到终点线，她这才意识到自己加入了一场路程更长、更艰难的比赛。然而，她并没有退出，反而继续向前跑。结果，意外参加半程马拉松的亚迪娜完成了21公里的比赛，在2,111名完赛者中，排名第1,885名，这就是毅力！

许多第一世纪的基督徒在遭受迫害时，都想退出这场信仰的马拉松长跑，但雅各鼓励他们继续跑，并说如果他们耐心地忍受考验，上帝已应许会赐下双倍的奖赏（雅各书1章4、12节）。首先，“忍耐要坚持到底”，使他们“可以完全，毫无缺欠”（4节，新译本）。其次，上帝会赐给他们“生命的冠冕”──在世上能活出耶稣的生命，并拥有来生将与耶稣同住的应许（12节）。

有时候，为基督而跑的马拉松好像不是我们想报名参加的赛程，因这比我们预期的更漫长、更艰难。然而当上帝供应我们所需的一切时，我们就可以坚持下去并继续奔跑。

作者：  魏马文

你现在正遭受什么患难？在面临考验时，你如何继续忠心地跟随上帝？

亲爱的上帝，我的双腿酸软无力，我很想放弃，求祢赐力量，让我坚持下去！