Royal Family

We had a wonderful visit to London last weekend with our son and his family. There were so many places that I have either heard about, viewed on TV, or seen in the movies, that I got to finally see in person.

On Friday we took a double-decker bus tour and saw all the most famous landmarks — Big Ben, Tower of London, the London Eye, Parliament, Embassies, Piccadilly Circus, roundabouts, and a plethora of statues of famous Englishmen and women.

Of course everything looks exactly as I expected; even the Churchill statue bears a striking resemblance to John Lithgow. OK, I confess, my preparation for our trip was binge-watching The Crown on Netflix.

On Saturday as we were heading to the Museum of Natural History (we had to hit all of the Paddington highlights) we asked our taxi driver to swing past Buckingham Palace one more time; maybe we’d catch a glimpse of the Royal Family! Nope.

It is so much fun to think what life must be like for the royals. Of course we’re all intrigued with the idea of royalty; who wouldn’t want to live like a king or queen, a prince or princess? It isn’t a new fascination, my grandmother used to watch “Queen For A Day” on TV back in the 60s.

Like I said, who doesn’t want to be royal, or treated royally for at least a day here or there? Of course, all I know about the royal life is what I’ve read or seen on TV. But it seems to us commoners that they never have to worry about anything. Royals are well taken care of and graciously provided for.

Of course, Royals have to give up a lot — they are constantly in the public eye and have to put the affairs of the kingdom and of The Crown above their own wishes and desires. That would not be an easy trade-off. And there have been those who, after measuring the cost, chose to abdicate their role.

We may never live in a palace, however, as Christians we are royalty; we are children of the Eternal King! We have been adopted into God’s family (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:5-6) and our royal status will last well beyond a day — it stretches throughout eternity!

How do we become royalty? First we hear the gospel: that God (in the Person of Jesus) stepped out of heaven, humbled himself, appeared in human flesh, lived a perfect life, died on the cross in our place as our substitute, was resurrected on the third day, and lives exalted in heaven. Secondly, we accept the gospel as truth and appropriate Jesus’s death on the cross for ourselves personally. And finally, we commit our lives to live for him; we surrender sovereignty over our lives to our King.

Our King/Father lacks nothing; he created everything and he has every resource in the universe at his disposal to come to our aid. There is nothing we need to ever worry about, in any realm of our lives. God has everything covered, He is never caught off guard, and he is never surprised by our circumstances (Psalm 135; 139:1-18).We can trust God to meet every need because we are precious to him and he promises us that he will take care of us (Matthew 6:30-34). God always keeps his promises.

Of course, just as with the royal family there is a cost to being royal; we must put the needs of the Kingdom above our own wishes and desires. This is often referred to as the cross for the believer (Luke 14:27). It is that place where our personal will for ourselves interacts with God’s will for us. When those two wills are not in harmony, we must lay down our plans, will, or desires and pick up God’s.

Dying to our selfish desires and embracing God’s plan is easier when we believe the truth that God is wiser than we are and that he knows us (and what is best for us) better than we know ourselves. It is difficult to lay our desires down when we question God’s understanding of our lives.

If we decide it is too much of a sacrifice to surrender to Jeus as the Sovereign over our lives, we can forfeit our royal status – we are free to walk away. That’s a frightening thought, but it is a very real choice for many people. Salvation is free, but it is costly.

As children of God people are always watching us. Always. Some people watch hoping to see us mess up royally. Some people watch because they see our Father glorified through our lives. And some watch to learn; your life may be the Only sermon they hear.

As royals there is nothing we lack. Are you living as a child of the One True King? Or are you living in spiritual poverty?

For you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. — 1 Peter 2:9 NIV

Our privilege, as Royals, is to serve others — to pour out our lives in service — and when we do, our Great King is made famous. What will you do today to advance the Kingdom?
______________________
to order Marcia’s devotional 365 Days of Grace, click HERE