One of the most successful entertainers is
Jay Leno. According to Forbes magazine, he made
$32 million last year. The amount of money is
not what made him successful. Jay Leno is the
king of late night TV; he has twice as many
viewers as Letterman and four times as many as
Jimmy Kimmel. But there was a time when it
didn't look so easy for him. When Jay first took
over the job from Johnny Carson in 1992,
Letterman left NBC to start his own show on CBS.
Jay lost in the ratings for a couple of years,
and there were times when his future at NBC was
uncertain.
So what did he did about it? The CEO of NBC
said this about Leno, "Jay put his head down and
wrote three more jokes every night. He was
willing to work long hard hours at it."
I love success stories about hard work. It
motivates me. But the thing is, those who
succeed in business, sports, and entertainment
do it for what Paul calls a "corruptible crown."
We, who are God's People, strive toward an
incorruptible crown - one that never fades away.
Think about it. If those guys can work that
hard for the chance of money and fame, shouldn't
we work a little harder for the chance to change
the world? When it comes to following Jesus, no
sacrifice is too great, no challenge too big, no
journey too far, when compared to the
incorruptible crown that awaits us.
"Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in
such a way as to get the prize. 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." (1 Corinthians 9:24-25)
