Who Is Your King?

Share this post with your friends!

Good morning Mamas! I feel lead to do a short Bible study this morning about a topic that has been on my heart for maybe six months or so now. It is a very simple question: Who is our King? Who do we serve? To whom do we bow our knees and our lives?

My hope is that, if indeed you are a Christian, you are quick to answer: Jesus!

But I want us to slow down this morning and really study some Scripture and then each of us need to truly answer that question for ourselves. If Jesus is our King, our lives should reflect that. So grab your Bible and your coffee and let’s study together!

You do, in fact, have a King upon the Throne of your Heart.

I often hear people make comments about this subject as though their throne is simply vacant. Take someone who is Atheist or Agnostic for example. Generally they will say they serve no God or King- or that they serve an unknown King. (The latter may in fact be true.)

The thing is there are no empty thrones or untouched hallowed halls of our hearts. We serve something. We live for something. Maybe it is solely for ourselves, our philosophies, or ideologies. Or for our children. Or for our jobs, homes, or vacations. But the truth is, we are all serving something.

I remember talking to my sister once about a friend that I had who was claiming to follow God, but He seemed to lead her in ways very unfamiliar with my own experience. Not necessarily contradicting to God’s Word, but contradictory to His Wisdom. My sister said something that day that has stuck with me ever since though the conversation too place years ago. After I finished by explaining that she felt God had told her to do these things my sister replied, “he probably did. But she may not be serving the same God that you are.”

Those words have haunted me ever since. Here’s the thing, if anyone other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is nesting on the throne of your heart- whether it be you, your husband, your child, or whatever- then the throne is not vacant. It is occupied by the king of this world- the Prince of Darkness, himself.

I know that is a hard and dark fact. But you cannot serve two masters, either God is on that throne or Satan is. There is no middle ground. This is a black or white issue. So let’s dive into the Bible and explore why the King of our heart matters so much.

Melchizedek

If you are new to Christianity, the above name may not be familiar to you. Melchizedek is first mentioned in the Old Testament, in Genesis actually. For those who are LOTR fans (the book, not the movie) I think of Melchizedek as Tom Bombadil. If you have read much into the kings of Israel, you will notice that there is always a High Priest and a King. The High Priest keeps the temple and acts as an Intercessor between God and man. The King rules over the Nation in judgement and leads them in battle. The High Priest and the King are always two separate people. Generally the King will call upon the High Priest before a battle or big decision and the High Priest will pray and sacrifice and call upon God for guidance, prophesy, or wisdom to give to the King.

Melchizedek, however, was both. He was the High Priest and the King of Salem. We only see small glimpses of him in the Old Testament. Abraham meets him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, The King’s Valley) and we are left with these small details.

“18.) And Melchizedek the King of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20. And blessed be God Most High, Who has handed over your enemies to you.”

Genesis 14: 18-20

There is a lot to unpack there, and so much more than we can get into right now. (I mean seriously, look at what Melchizedek served him! Can you say symbolic!?) So we will keep it simple. Before Abraham was the father of the Great Nation of Israel. Before Sarah had Isaac. And before God had even given the covenant to Abram or changed his name to Abraham. We meet Melchizedek. A King and a Priest.

Why is Melchizedek Important?

That probably seemed like a strange thing to start off with in this study, but just stay with me and we will bring this full circle. Melchizedek will come up again. All the way at the other end of our Bible in Hebrews chapter 7. You should read it in full sometime. It is really incredible, but more than I can go in depth on today since this isn’t actually a study of Melchizedek.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” ³ without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Hebrews 7: 1-3

Hmm. King of Righteousness, King of Peace, without Father, without Mother, without genealogy. Having neither beginning of days nor end of life. Made like the Son of God, a priest continually.

I mean seriously, only God can write something like this. So this King and High Priest as you have probably guessed by now looks a whole lot like Our King and Our Intercessor.

But we will come back to that soon..

The First King of Israel

Fast forward years and years and years, and that Great Nation that God had promised to Abraham has finally made it back to the land that God had promised. Israel is finally living out the promises that God had made.

God leads them in battle.

God guides them and gives them wisdom.

He sets up Priests who keep the temple, make intercession, and offer sacrifices.

God is their King.

But they long for another.

Israel begins to moan and grumble. “Give us a King!” they demand. “Someone who will lead us in battle and represent us! Someone like all the other nations have!”

Samuel, the High Priest at the time and the last Judge of Israel, warned:

 “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. ¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men^[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

1 Samuel 8: 10-12

But God told Samuel to give them their King, for they were not rejecting Samuel. They were rejecting God.

Friends, it is a scary thing when God lets us reject Him and have our own King…

The Rise and Fall of a Great Nation

Last year I did the Bible Recap, where you read the entire Bible in a year. I enjoyed it, but reading through Israel’s history is not for the faint of heart. I remember feeling so exhausted and disheartened after coming through the books of Kings and the prophets. You would finally be reading one day about this one rogue King who was finally getting it right and God would start to bless Israel again and then that King would die and the next one to step up would forsake his father’s wishes and worship idols and bring judgement on Israel.

This was the pattern. Saul became Israel’s first King. He grew prideful and fell. Then came David- a great King and an ancestor of Jesus. The line of Kings ascended and descended and Israel split, warred, was taken captive, rose and fell just like each King who sat upon her throne.

Just as the state of a King impacts the state of a nation, the King of our Heart impacts the state of our lives (and our eternity).

The True King Arrives

With God there is always hope, though the nation of Israel was engulfed in darkness.

Under Roman rule a new baby’s cry pierces through 400 years of silence after the last scroll of Malachi.

A King is born.

He isn’t clothed in purple robes- but rather swaddled in rags and strips of fabric. He isn’t wealthy or born into beautiful chambers of gold. But He is here, and all of heaven celebrates.

The King, Himself, is here at last.

There’s a moment in Jesus’s life, where He is finally acknowledged as the King. We often call it the triumphant entry. He is welcomed into Jerusalem riding on a colt as prophesied. Palm branches and clothes are laid out before Him as the crowd sings “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”

Finally! Finally after hundreds and hundreds of years, Israel sees her true King! And they accept Him and place Him upon the throne and there He will reign forever and ever! Right?

No. Just as Israel had rejected God as their King all those years before. They reject Him once again.

The King of the Jews

Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem is short lived. The King is there, right in His own Kingdom at last.

He walks through the temple, our High Priest forever.

He is examined and tested by the Pharisees, our Spotless Lamb.

Then He is judged unjustly, our crimes on His back.

Pilate says, “Shall I crucify your King?”

And the chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.” (John 19:15)

He is at last crowned, with thorns.

He is clothed in purple robes, stained with blood.

And finally He is throned, upon a cross.

Our King making intercession for us. Laying down His life for us. And if He has power to lay down His life, He has the power to pick it back up again. The King and High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

And above His head, the sign reads: King of the Jews.

Upon the Throne

A few years ago my husband and I bought this book to read together called “gods at War”. We had grabbed it haphazardly off the display shelf at a LifeWay bookstore. It sounded good, but more than anything I think we both thought this book would grow us without convicting us or making us change anything. Wrong. Day after day as I read that book. Chapter after chapter I would proclaim, “I don’t think I really struggle with that.” Just to be dumbfounded to find that in fact there was another area of my life where something was lifted up above God.

Just because we don’t have a golden statue in our house that we bow to every morning, doesn’t mean we aren’t worshipping other gods. In fact you may be reading this very blog on a god you carry in your pocket right now..

The god of overeating, the god of overindulging, the god of video games, the god of fear, anxiety, or money. A god by any other name than YHWH is a false god and an idol.

Mamas, what do you live for? What does the bulk of your day revolve around? You may read a little of your Bible in the morning, but does it stick with you? Does it move you or change you? Are you more motivated by sharing the gospel or picking up an iced coffee? How much time do you give away to your phone, laptop, or television? How much do you give to God? These are hard questions and they may sting a little. Honestly, they sting me too.

If you want to identify the God or god of your life, look at where you spend your money or the way you view your money. Look at how you spend your time, the things you watch, listen to, or let move you. Are you motivated more by the Word of God or by a philosophy, ideology, or pleasure this world has offered to you?

Mama when we are talking about eternity. When we are talking about God, the King Himself, there is no room for anything else on that throne. So now we have to ask ourselves one really difficult question:

Who is your King?

Mamas, who is your King? I don’t want you to just answer than hastily and brush past it. I want us to really think on that. To meditate on it. Who is your King? Could someone looking in from the outside know who we serve? Would people be surprised to learn that we are Christians?

And the biggest question of all, do you know your King? Do you know King Jesus?

Would you recognize Him if you stood face to face? Or would you do like the chief priests, who were supposedly waiting for the Messiah, and yet said to His face, “We have no King but Caesar.”

We are all serving someone with our hearts and our lives? Who are you serving?

Who is your King?

Do Your Children Know your Answer?

If you follow us on Instagram you may notice we always use the hashtag, With All Their Hearts for All Their Lives. That is the heart and the purpose behind this blog. To raise up children who love God with all their hearts for all their lives. To aim these precious arrows that God has blessed us with at something more than just scholarships, good jobs, or deathbed salvation. We want to raise kids who can stand out in the world. Kids who can lock eyes with Jesus and face anything thrown at them.

We don’t raise kids that way by accident. it takes intention, purpose, and most importantly it takes being the example. I used to shut the door to my room when I would go in to pray. And sometimes I still do, but I realized one day that Iris was watching through a small crack in the door. I don’t want my relationship with Jesus to be something private or hidden away from my kids. I don’t want them to have to hunt through my Bible after I pass to see if they can find some indicator that I was saved.

Every time they look at me, I want them to see it written across my face. I want them to see me on my knees before God. I want them to see me lift my hands in worship. And I even want them to hear me sing to my King even though I can’t carry a tune and I usually cry.

Mamas don’t hide your King away in your heart. Display Him for your children and the world to see. Serve Him with your whole heart for your whole life, and pray that your babies will too!

Happy Aiming!

-Ashley

Do you have questions or doubts holding you back for serving your true King? Visit BibleThinker.org!

Starting back to homeschool? Come plan you year with us at, click here for our full blog on Planning the 2022-2023 school year!

Share this post with your friends!