LOYALTY TO KING JESUS

"Pilate therefore said to Him, 'Are you a king then?' Jesus answered, 'You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'" (John 18:37)

We have two kinds of kings in this world. The first is the parliamentary monarch, such as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. As the object of great reverence, she was encircled by grandeur and gilded with tradition. In terms of real power, however, she had little; her opinions were heard with politeness and patience, but her office was primarily ceremonial. The British prime minister holds the reins of government.

The other kind of king is the absolute monarch whose office is both ceremonially impressive and politically powerful. He is head of state, he leads the nation, and his authority is supreme.

Many Christians treat Jesus like a parliamentary king. Once a week -- if it's convenient! -- they hold court with Him and make Him the object of great reverence. He is heard with politeness and patience, but in terms of daily life He has little influence.

Our Lord is an absolute monarch. He would rather have one person who is 100 percent committed to Him than a hundred people who are 80% committed. John Wesley said, “if I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and determined to know nothing among men but Christ, and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire.”

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

-- Adapted from Robert J. Morgan in “He Shall Be Called”

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THE WHOLE THRUST OF THE LORD’S PRAYER

To be effective, [the Lord’s] prayer must flow out of a truly committed heart: it must be the definition of our spirit, our attitude to God.

An unknown author put it this way: “I cannot say ‘our’ if I live only for myself. I cannot say ‘Father’ if I do not try to act like His child. I cannot say ‘who art in heaven’ if I am laying up no treasure there. I cannot say ‘hallowed be Thy name’ if I am not striving for holiness. I cannot say ‘Thy kingdom come’ if I am not doing all my power to hasten it. I cannot say ‘give us this day our daily bread’ if I am dishonest, or seeking something for nothing. I cannot say ‘forgive us our trespasses’ if I bear a grudge against another. I cannot say ‘lead us not into temptation’ if I deliberately place myself in its path. I cannot say ‘deliver us from evil’ if I do not put on the armor of God. I cannot say ‘Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory’ if I do not give the King the loyalty due to Him from a faithful subject. And I cannot say ‘forever’ if the horizon of my life is bounded completely by time.”

The whole thrust of the Lord’s prayer is that when we give God His rightful place, He gives us our rightful place. But not before.

-- Selwyn Hughes in “Every Day Light: Treasure for the Heart”

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