Last Wednesday, we had a chance to attend an award ceremony held at my son’s high school auditorium. The auditorium was packed with parents, students and teachers when the ceremony starts. It was a “long” ceremony, if I have to say, because there are numerous awards rendered – they were used to recognize seniors and some juniors for their academic achievements and contributions to the school and local communities. I was amazed to see that there are “so many awards” were given out and admittedly, I was ignorant to most of them.

During the ceremony, some students received more than one award while others seem to receive none. In addition, some awards seem to be more “valuable” than others are. Overall, it is an interesting ceremony. From this experience, I was pondering….

When apostle Paul was at the end of his life, he wrote a letter to his beloved spiritual son and co-worker, Timothy, stated that the time for his departure is near and he is ready being poured out like drink offering. He is confident that he has fought the good fight, has finished the race, and has kept the faith. Therefore, he told Timothy that “there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8) 從此以後，有公義的冠冕為我存留，就是按著公義審判的主到了那日要賜給我的；不但賜給我，也賜給凡愛慕他顯現的人。” Paul indicated to us that there is a crown of righteousness will be awarded to whoever believes in Jesus Christ, as they were purchased by the righteousness of Christ. And, the award is “sure and precious” as it is Jesus’ life.

In my son’s award ceremony, I felt bad for those who didn’t receive any award. A question comes to my mind is, “At the end of our life in this world, do we have confidence to receive the crown of righteousness instead of the final judgment from God?” This is crucial because we can only have one chance in this world.

On the other hand, as my son’s award ceremony is mainly designated for graduating seniors, it therefore has the basic qualification of: whoever wants to receive awards would need to be able to graduate from the high school. This means one has to have a good standing academically in order to be able to graduate. Similarly, for Christians, we need to live a life that is worthy of the award.  Paul exemplifies us how he was longing to see Christ. He declared that he has fought the good fight, has finished the race, and has kept the faith. Then, the questions to us are, “Are we having the same “blessed assurance” as Paul”? “Do we understand that we need to live a Christ-like life before we meet Him?”

My dear brothers and sisters, no matter where you are now, let’s start from there. As this is our only chance to fight the good fight, to finish our race in this world and to keep the faith in the Lord. May He grant your wish to live a life that is worthy of the award.