Corona or a Crown?

I get easily amused by words and their meanings. Maybe too easily amused. Take for example the current pandemic we are facing. There is nothing funny about it. Except, perhaps, the meaning of its name.

Corona is a Latin word meaning "crown."

Which gets me to thinking. That's always a dangerous thing.

These days, we are spending way too much time locked up inside trying to avoid a viral corona.In a similar manner, people these days are spending way too much time trying to avoid a crown. Or more specifically, the One wearing the crown.

We take precautions, necessary ones, even, to avoid the spread of a virus. We hide in our homes. We distance ourselves from others. We wipe down any surface that might possibly be contaminated, sanitizing it to the best of our ability to avoid it being shared.

Unfortunately, many have attempted to sanitize our faith. We avoid talking too vocally about Jesus, because we don't want to push people away. We go along with things that are not pleasing to God because we wish not to appear different from the world. In that regard, we are too easily infected by the world instead of the other way around. What if it was different? What if we "infected" the world with hope. What if we shared Christ in a multitude of ways to everyone we met?

Our faith we share is supposed to be viral - it is meant to spread to the farthest reaches of the world. For those involved, rather than a corona, there will be crowns.

1st Peter 5 reveals a crown of glory for those who feed God's flock, even if they suffer for it. 2 Timothy 4 speaks of a crown of righteousness for those who avoid contamination by the world, and long for Jesus to appear to us again. Those who love the Lord, and continue steadfast in His grace will receive what Revelation 2:10 calls the crown of life. 1 Thessalonians 2 shares that those who have spread the love of Jesus will see those who came to faith in Him as their crown of rejoicing. And, of course, 1 Corinthians 9 speaks of an incorruptible crown that will be given to those who run the race set before us to the end without wavering from the path that Jesus sets before us.

All of these crowns offered to us by a King once crowned with a wreath made of thorns. A King who suffered and bled and died that we might be washed clean by His shed blood. A King, who conquered even death and hell, and is alive and with us today. Someday, we will take the crowns of this world, and the crowns we are offered, and toss them at His feet. Because, as Mac Powell shares in the Third Day song Show Me Your Glory: "Nothing compares to the glory of knowing You, Lord."

Personally, I'd rather worship at the feet of the One who wore a crown of thorns than seek any personal corona any day. And that statement brings a smile to my face no matter how you look at the meaning of the word.