A poor man walks along a dirty, crack-ridden street, gazing at the spiraling, ornate behemoth in the distance. The palace is a marvel to gaze upon, even for those like this man who gazes at it from miles away. His entire life has been spent walking this same trash-littered streets, struggling to provide for his family. Not once has he ever gotten any closer to the beauty of the palace, let alone the courageous leader who lives there.
This man has heard the rumors, the legends. The King of his land is brave and selfless. Some legends tell that he has destroyed armies with a single wave of his hand or fought off ferocious monsters. He has single handedly saved the entire kingdom more than once. The whole kingdom came for the celebrations and festivals, but this poor man could only stand in the lonely street in the back. Never in his life has he ever gazed upon the man who saved him, who continuously protects him. Even as the man makes his way to the market to try to buy food, the king is in a war meeting, plotting on how to stop enemy raids on the citizens. Yet this man will never know his king.
That is not the case with us.
We may walk along dirty, crack-ridden streets in the slums of cities. We may live in the same towns we were born in, have never traveled more than a hundred miles our entire lives. We may live in mansions, with the latest technology, or on a country farm. We may be lawyers, doctors, teachers, soldiers fighting overseas, writers, musicians.
Some of us may have heard the legends of our king. The truth of his love and sacrifice when he died on the cross for our sins. Some of us were born and raised into it. Others may have accepted it later and yet others still have heard and think it’s just that: a legend. Churches gather for celebrations to worship our savior, and some of us might have attended, able to be a part of the beautiful times of prayer and Bible study. Others may not be able to attend or choose not to.
No matter who we are or where we are, there is one thing that we all have in common.
Unlike the man walking along the street to the market, we can gaze upon our King—the One who saves us even as we go about our daily lives.
We are not stuck in the marketplace, struggling to survive, never gaining an audience with someone too great for our presence to taint. No, unlike the man, our King comes to us.
He is already there waiting for you.
You can talk to him in your own home. Your house, your car, your church, your work…
We can speak to our King anytime, anywhere. That’s not even the best part.
Unlike the king in the fairy tale, Our Lord and Savior invited us to become part of his family. We are now royals in his kingdom, because he loved us so much.
