King of the Castle – Week 3
We all want to the wear the crown in the Kingdom of Me, but the crown belongs to Jesus and He’s a good king with a good kingdom.
We celebrate people who don’t surrender, who fight to the end, but what if in God’s upside-down kingdom, surrendering was a good thing?
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-27
“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Luke 14:31-33
What Jesus asks of us seems too hard and too risky unless we know that we have a Good King who has our eternal good in mind.
If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:39
The upside-down Kingdom says that if you give up your life for Him, you’ll find it.
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
We are all called to a life of surrender, to choose a life of following King Jesus.
We get off the throne, we give the King the crown, we bow our knee to the true King.
Next Step:
What do you need to surrender to God today?