Training for a Crown

1 Corinthians 9:25 

(New International Version, ©2010)

²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

In 2011 an opportunity opened to present a paper at a mathematics education conference in South Africa. I wanted to go to South Africa again. Friends I would like to see live there. Places I would like to visit, some for the first time and some just to enjoy seeing again, beckoned. Having been born there and grown up there, I feel it’s almost like going home.

However, everything about the trip was expensive. It was possible that I could get some financial support from the university for going if I presented a paper at this conference. Furthermore, the trip would probably become partially tax deductible if I presented a paper there. So I decided to present a paper. I wrote up a proposal and e-mailed it in. The response was enthusiastically positive.

After that I spent a great deal of time researching my topic. I spent time in the university library using current periodicals. I spent hours looking on the Internet. I went over what I had been doing in my own classroom and worked to get things organized into a presentable form. Finally, I started writing the paper I planned to present. This took more time than even I had reckoned it would. Naturally, I didn’t want to stand in front of the group and sound under-prepared. 

What did all this time and effort gain me? Fifteen or twenty minutes of presentation; polite applause; an entry on my curriculum vitae; some financial support; pleasant memories, and that’s all.

Lord, help me to be as diligent spending meaningful time preparing for the time I will get to present myself before your throne!