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“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 9:25).
In the year 1897, a group of sailors from Belgium, led by a man named Adrien de Gerlache, made a historic journey to the Antarctic to see if they could be the first ones to reach the South Pole. He and his men hoped to achieve fame, not only for themselves, but also for their native country of Belgium.
In the course of their epic journey, they spent a winter with their ship frozen into the pack ice, and endured terrible hardships. Two men died, several others suffered from insanity, and all of them aged considerably over the two years of their voyage. They did not succeed in reaching the South Pole. They went through all this simply to have their names remembered in history as great explorers. Later several of them resorted to underhanded means, and even lying, to make themselves appear more important than the others on the trip.
How different all this is for true Christians! Those men endured much for human glory, and for a reward that was limited to this world. How much better it is to use our time and energy for the Lord’s interests down here, and to look forward to a crown that will last for eternity! Also, there is no need for us to try to make ourselves look important. The Lord has the record straight, and we can rest in that.
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