(As the Feast of Christ the King draws to a close…)

Let me tell you a few things about my King.

He is not like the other kings you read about in history or story books. He does not sit on a big throne of gold and command vast armies in war. He does not have huge coffers of riches that he uses to control other people. He doesn’t even demand that everyone bow before him. He does not live in a big castle, high on a mountain where no one ever gets to see him.

He is a King who lives in my heart.

He is a King who comes and knocks on my door and, if I open it, He’ll come in and have supper with me.

(If I don’t open up, He’ll come and knock again. And again. He  doesn’t demand anything but He wants me to know that He is there, waiting to be allowed inside.)

He is very poor, having given me everything. And yet everything is His. I know that doesn’t make sense but I don’t know any other way to explain it.

He never tries to make me bow before Him or worship Him. He always wants to serve me. He asks to wash my feet as He sits on the floor before me. He quenches my thirst with a sort of Life-giving water that never runs dry. And He feeds my deepest hunger with Himself. I don’t quite understand how He does that – but He does.

And He has the most wonderful Father. The love between them is so amazing – I’ve never seen anything like it. My King and His Father are never apart from each other – so they both come in when I open the door. In fact, they have made their home within me. Now His Father is my Father too.

Some people might think that a King like this can’t be very powerful. But that is the strange thing about my King. His power is sweet and gentle but inexorable. He does no violence but there is no evil that can stand up before Him and win. Even death is destroyed by His presence.

That kind of power would seem scary – but in Him, it’s not. He does everything with Love. I never knew that Love could be that powerful but I guess it is.

I must say though, His Love is different than the other kinds of love you might read about or see in the movies. It’s hard to explain. Somehow it goes way deeper. It doesn’t expect anything back.

I don’t mean that He doesn’t want anything back because He does – He wants me and wants my love. But He would give His Love even if He didn’t get mine in return. And He wouldn’t hold anything back or resent it. He would die for love of me, even if I didn’t pay any attention to Him.

In fact, He already has. Another one of those things that’s hard to explain.

I’m so glad He’s my King. He doesn’t try to control me but I want Him to rule all of me. I trust Him to be in charge more than I trust anyone else. In fact, I’d rather have Him in charge than be in charge myself.

I love Him. I’m in Love with Him.

I know as I write this it sounds like I have my own personal King, living in my heart, attending to my every need. And it’s sort of like that. But, at the same time, I know He is everyone’s King and lives in their hearts – or is at least knocking on their doors.

And I’m glad. I’m excited that He is not just my King. Because when I meet someone else who has Him living in their heart, what joy we feel! In fact, there are whole groups of us who get together and sing and share Him and His Kingship in us.

Because I’m in love with Him, I’m in love with them. So the Love keeps growing and getting deeper – and it never stops.

It is just too beautiful for words.

I hope you know what I mean… but if you don’t, listen for the knocking. You’ll hear it.

Don’t be afraid. Just open the door…