A King Who Gives

Thursday, December 5, 2019
Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. 1 Chronicles 29:12

Ancient Kings – taken from What Kings Do

In ancient times kings were military leaders. They protected their kingdoms as well as acquiring other lands. These conquests brought access to additional natural resources and trade routes, as well as bringing plunder into the royal coffers and slave labor into the kingdom. Kings were considered to be the owners of the lands in their realms with final authority over their subjects and subject property. In other words, a king had complete control over what could and could not be done because the entire kingdom belonged to the king, no matter who “owned” it – no wonder so many things fight for the ability to rule your life. Kingship would require a supporting administration and a standing army that would need to be housed and fed. The king would also need access to laborers and goods of every sort, thus taxation and forced labor would be the major means of providing for the monarchy. Such changes would bring about dramatic political and economic changes.

Those ancient kings really owned their subjects and all that was in their kingdom.  Anything was at their disposal at any time. Everyone and everything were subject to the kings needs and desires.  Imagine the havoc and devastation an evil king could bring. Whatever or whoever sits upon the throne of your life will take charge over it, control it, and rule it – it’s what a king does. Not to choose your king is to leave yourself vulnerable to a kingdom that will enslave you. When the wrong king is on the throne of your life, it owns you. It consumes your time, your thoughts, maybe your emotions and in many cases, your resources. In extreme cases, it can even claim your life.

When Jesus sits on the throne of our life, it is not burdensome. In fact, it is the opposite. 
Jesus always lifts the burdens off our lives, He never creates more burden.

Jesus Takes and Gives
Jesus receives all who will desire to let Him reign in their lives and He gives graciously and without prejudice.  He freely gives grace and mercy to anyone who comes to Him, and to His children He gives gracious and bountiful blessings, far beyond what we deserve.  Don’t let anything or anyone take over Jesus’ place on the throne of your life. Be vigilant, as Satan is always trying to deceive us and trick us into pledging our allegiance to him.  He is crafty and tricky and can quickly lure us to believing what he offers is better.

Our Father King is so good to us and He is the only one who will take all our sin, all our brokenness, all our troubles, and give us something beautiful back. We can lay our sin down and He gives forgiveness.  We can lay our brokenness down, and He gives healing. We can lay our troubles, and He gives peace. We can lay down our sorrow, and He gives comfort.  We can lay down our emptiness, and He gives fullness of joy. He takes away and gives something so much better in return, just when we think there is nothing good left. When we try to rule our own lives and it comes crashing down around us, He is the One who can come in and take the throne and make it right again. He gives what no earthly king can give, and He takes away what no earthly king could take away.  As much as a good king cared about his subjects and did good things for them, our King loves us with unending love, and He has given us everlasting life, free to all who will receive it. 

A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever He chooses.  Proverbs 21:1