Temporary Crowns

I finally got the permanent crown on my beleaguered tooth. The temporary crown fell off twice! After the second time, I told the dental assistant not to scrape off the cement from the tooth before recementing.
"Maybe the old cement will hold the crown on this time!" I suggested.
She agreed. And the temporary crown stayed on until finally yesterday, the permanent arrived.
I did not charge the dentist for my advice.

When he removed the temporary crown, he held up a cement cap shaped like my tooth.
"I have never seen this," he said, "In all my years of dentistry...the cement under the crown formed a crown of its own!"
The dental assistant and I high-fived, "And it stayed on," I told him.

After the trauma of the crown replacement, I dashed off to the river. All the horrible dizziness and weariness of the past few days was gone. I kayaked joyfully against the strong current and then whizzed back to dock in half the time. My numb jaw lost its numbness, and I was able to eat a very late lunch, grateful for the new tooth and the adventure of crowns over for now.

One day, I will get a new crown. It won't be on my tooth, though. It will be a crown of glory, bejeweled according to what I have earned through a lifetime of serving God. I hope it will be filled with jewels, symbols of my devotion, my obedience, my trust in my Lord. Alas, I know it will be much sparser than it should be. Still, it is a crown that will not fall off, and will give me no pain. It will be the crown that shows I persevered to the end, and it is not cement that will hold it on...but love and completion.
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You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever. Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. (Psalm 21:3-6 NIV)

I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings. You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last for ever. (1 Corinthians 9:23-25 CEVUK00)


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