Which Crown Will You Give Jesus?
This is Day 5 of my 40 day Lenten blog.
Jesus is a king. Kings wear crowns. The crown is the symbol of the king's authority. When we give Jesus authority over our lives, we are asking Him to be our king. And yes, it is we who do the asking. Christ rules all creation. He doesn't need me submitting to have power. My submission will not complete Him or add to Him in any way. It is we who need Him to be our king so that He will guide us along the path to His Kingdom where we will have eternal life with Him.
Thus, when we surrender to Jesus we bow low before Him and lay our crown at His feet. We do not want to wear the crown ourselves. We want Him to wear it. But when we refuse to bow at His feet because of our pride and our self aggrandizement and say to Him, "I don't need you!", then we do not lay our crown at His feet.
But Jesus is a king. And kings wear crowns. So when we refuse to give Him the crown He deserves because we want to be the king or queen of our own life, then we press upon his head the crown of thorns. Like the Roman centurions we mock his kingship. We deride His authority. We spit on Him and laugh at Him, believing that He is powerless. We see the blood pouring down His face and believe that is a result of His weakness instead of His love. And we go on to rule as kings and queens of our own pathetic little kingdoms, instead of receiving the glory that will come with our surrender to Him.
My problem is not in casting my crown at Jesus' feet. I do that. My problem is picking it back up again. Saying something like: "Wait let me have that back for just a bit to do what I want here. You can hold on to this crown of thorns for me." It's never my intention. I always intend to surrender completely to Jesus. I always intend to leave that crown at His feet. But like the Apostle Paul, I all too often end up doing what I don't want to do. I just don't have the faith to leave it there.
Today's prayer: Lord, help me to surrender to You completely. Help me to leave my crown at Your feet, trusting in Your perfect will. And please forgive me for all of the times that I have pressed the crown of thorns upon Your head.
R.C. VanLandingham lives in Florida with his wife and kids. He is the author of several books including the Christian fantasy books Peter Puckett & The Amulet of Eternity, Peter Puckett & the Enchanted Chalice, and Magdalene Hope & the Elves of Evermore.