Who's On The Throne?

Therefore do not let sin reign in your

mortal body so that you obey its lusts.

Romans 6:12

It was June 2, 1953 and I was in my early teens. It was a historic time...a new queen of England was crowned on that day. Her name was/is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary whose father, King George VI had died. His brother, Edward VIII was next in line for the throne, but abdicated because of his love for a commoner who he married. Back then, royalty in line for the throne didn't marry a commoner. These events put Elizabeth in line to be the next monarch of England. This wasn't by far the first female queen of England. Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother was Queen Victoria.

I remember watching the coronation on television. We were interested in things of England and its goings on. My grandparents had immigrated from Scotland in their early married years. We also had very close friends who had traveled to England for the coronation festivities, so for many reasons, we were glued to the TV set for all of the events. Those friends brought a gift back from those festivities for my grandmother...a souvenir cup and saucer that sits on my cup and saucer rack.

The new queen walked down the main aisle of Westminster Abbey with all of the royal attire a monarch in England wore at the time. Her red velvet robe was trimmed in ermine. We noted colors later as TV broadcasting was black and white then. Shortly after taking her throne and being crowned queen, I'll never forget that her husband stepped forward, knelt before her and swore his allegiance to his wife, her royal highness. I often wondered later how that worked when they got into a spat over their children's activities or what toppings to put on a pizza. He has always maintained proper decorum as the queen's consort.

Queen Elizabeth has as much power as her followers give her. With whatever power she has, she actually has very few friends outside of her family. Most of her human contacts are those with whom she has official dealings. However, people who come into her presence bow or curtsey and keep a safe distance from her bodily, only shaking her hand if she extends it.

Queen Elizabeth reigns from a throne she sits on only for very official occasions. She presents absolutely no problem for us. My interest in that situation has been of mere interest, a thing to watch through the years. I had no say over her becoming queen and she has no say in the events of my life.

However, there is a throne that greatly interests me personally and that's the throne of my life.  That throne will stay occupied 24/7 for the rest of my life. It is never vacant and someone or something is always seated on it. Whatever it is that is sitting on that throne has complete sway over my life whether I am aware of it or not. The same is true for you as well. Rarely do we even bother to take a look at that throne to see who/what is there controlling our lives. We won't see that throne in a newspaper or newscast. It's a very personal sitting place and we have all the say as to what or who is seated there. The object or person never stays there for long because we tend to have short attention spans. There are times when we elevate people or things of the world to that position but as Christians, the only One who has a right to that throne is our Lord Jesus. He is our Lord with every right to complete say over our lives. He has the right to command our behavior, habits, friends and activities. 

 

 

We can never say to Him as children often say to each other, “You can't tell me what to do....You're not the boss of me.” Oh yes He can tell us what to do and He IS the Boss of us. Like it or not, He is Lord. I've heard people referring to their salvation experience as accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. There's never been a Christian who could accept Jesus as Lord because He's already Lord, has been through eternity and will maintain that title and position on through eternity. Our job is to recognize Jesus as Lord, treating Him as such in our loving and living. This can only happen when Jesus is occupying that throne in our lives.

Through a backslidden state, nursing unrepentant sin, practicing the things of this world, I can as much as tell Jesus that for the time being, He's on leave from my life's throne. Jesus will never force Himself on us. He's too much of a Gentleman to do that. He wants a season ticket to that throne where He's the only One sitting there.

How do we know if we've allowed other things on that throne, other than Jesus. Our lifestyle will tell us a lot, if we are living in ways that would never please the Lord. During those down times, our spiritual activities and practices will be lagging. We will find if we really want to know that Jesus no longer has first place in our lives, that our Bible reading and prayer will have been pushed to one side if not put completely away. Our moods may be affected and the way we treat others. You see, when Jesus is on our throne, we are focused on Him and not self. When other things take over, it's because we have allowed self to take over. We mustn't let that happen:

For He must reign until He has put

all His enemies under His feet.

I Corinthians 15:25

Anything or anyone that takes Jesus' place of rulership, is an enemy of Christ. He knows how to deal with Satan and his methods.

Praise the Lord...the day is coming when Satan will be kicked to the curb and we'll never have to put up with those things of the world again that Satan uses to get His grip on our lives. Everything will be new and perfect in every way. With joy, we will join in with resounding voices, with the Heavenly throng, singing:

“,,,the kingdom of the world has become the

kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ;

and He will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15b

In that day, Jesus will have full reign not only of our lives at all times, but of His kingdom as a whole. At that time, every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is God. Hallelujah!!!

Kings and queens of this world may come and go. People will bow or curtsey before them. Their subjects will swear their allegiance for whatever that is worth. However, we have a choice as to who and what we bow before and a lot of that depends on who or what we have placed on the throne of our lives. If I'm going to bow the knee, I want that adoration to have meaning...adoration and worship toward Jesus who is the only One who gives my life meaning.

Lord Jesus, I'm so grateful for Your Lordship in my life. I know I slip when I shouldn't and am so sorry because I want You always on the throne of my life. Rule and reign in my life because I don't have the grit to stand strong as I should. Thank You for strengthening and loving me, even when I don't deserve one moment of Your love or attention. I love you....Amen