22nd October 2025

Have you ever worn a crown? I came close once, when I was in the running to be the ‘Honoured Queen’ in Job’s Daughters (a service organisation for young women with ties to the Masons). I declined the nomination and gave up my chance to wear the crown.

A crown doesn’t have to be a literal one – It can be a promotion, an accolade, an accomplishment or even a feeling of pride. Many of us wear figurative crowns, and maybe secretly wish they were literal so people could see them. Olympic athletes compete for medals, but in homage to the ancient games, in Greece in 2004 they also wore crowns made of olive branches. Paul said athletes train and practice self-discipline for prizes that will fade away, but we as Christians do it to obtain imperishable crowns (1 Corinthians 9:25, KJV; newer translations use the word prize). 

We can earn other types of crowns – Gray hair is a crown of glory (Proverbs 16:31). Grandchildren are the crowning glory of grandparents (Proverbs 17:6). Paul called the church his joy and crown (Philippians 4:1 and 1 Thessalonians 2:19). He told Timothy he would wear a crown of righteousness when Christ returns (2 Timothy 4:8). James tells us those who love God will receive a crown of life (James 1:12). And Peter talks about a reward or crown of glory that won’t fade away (1 Peter 5:4).

So, what are the crowns the 24 elders lay before the throne of God in Revelation 4:10? The Expositor’s Bible Commentary says, “When the living creatures confess the truth of God’s holy deeds, the response of the highest order of heavenly creatures is to relinquish their crowns of honour before the feet of him who alone is ‘worthy’ of ‘glory and honour and power’ because he alone (no man, not even the emperor) is the source and stay of every created thing.”

Can we lay our crowns, physical or spiritual, at the feet of the only one who is worthy of worship and adoration, just as the 24 elders do in heaven? Jesus wore a crown of thorns to the cross, and now wears a crown of ‘gold.’ Any crowns we may have in this life or the next can only be considered as offerings to be laid at the feet of our Redeemer, who sits on the throne at the right hand of the Father.

Let’s join the 24 elders as they say, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11, NIV).

First published on 15 September 2025, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com a personal blog which is not sponsored by Grace Communion International.

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