Crowns and Stars
Illustration★★★★There was a devout Christian woman who had all sorts of time and opportunity, as most of us do if we use our time properly, who dreamed she died. She wasn’t afraid of dying. She was a Christian. She dreamed she went to heaven.
Of course, because she thought she was living a consistent Christian life, she dreamed she went to heaven to receive her crown. She thought she was entitled to a crown because she was a Christian. She started walking up the golden street. Everybody she met stared at her.
Some pointed at her. The farther she walked the more they stared and pointed. Finally she stopped an angel and asked him why everybody was pointing at her.
The angel said, “Take off your crown and look at it.” She took it off and looked at it. It was gold like all the other crowns, but it didn’t have a single star in it.
She looked around, and it seemed that every other crown had one, two, three, or more stars. The gold of some was almost covered with shining stars. You are not going to take your offices, your homes, your beds, your floors, with you to heaven, but you are going to take the stars you will earn in winning souls in the service of the Lord.
Found in appelman's sermon outlines and illustrations, Unknown · Daniel 12:3
The point
Woman dreams of heaven expecting a crown but finds it has no stars; learns heavenly rewards come only from winning souls to Christ.