The royal family is much, much larger than many sometimes realize
By Dean Collins
I’m probably going to lose some friends or at least some credibility. But I’ll say it anyway. What is the obsession with the British royal family? I’ll admit I have been to the gates of the palace and stood with thousands and watched as cars and horses rode to the gate and the guards of Buckingham Palace filled the entryway. It was a colorful and impressive show, I’ll admit. But this sort of event happens in cities and nations somewhere in varying scale every day. But the news doesn’t report every sneeze of their leader and the behaviors and misbehavior of every family member worldwide.
Before I lose you, let me admit to simply baiting the hook. If you want to watch hours of documentaries and live showings of the queen and the royal family, enjoy yourself. But what I really hope we all understand is this: We are a part of a significantly more important and royal family than our British neighbors across the pond.
A royal priesthood!
The apostle Peter spells it out very clearly in 1 Peter 2:
You are a chosen race.
You are a royal priesthood.
You are a holy nation.
You are a people specifically created and valued as God’s possession.
You used to live in darkness, but now you live in marvelous light.
Once you didn’t have a people group, but now you have a divine people group.
Chosen, royal, and holy. Your coworkers probably won’t use those words to describe you when you walk into your next meeting. However, you and I should probably remember this reality before we get there. Otherwise, we might give our family a bad name. Everything we do and say reflects on our King and all of his family. And Peter knew as much, which is why he continued with this admonition:
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
Inside out
As members of the King’s family, we must remember that at present we are just passing through in our current journey. His kingdom is both here and not fully here. As followers of Jesus, we have accepted his reign in our lives, which means our attitudes and behaviors must reflect his. But our season of waiting doesn’t end with Advent. Still after Christmas, we likely will be waiting for his final arrival when he restores all things. This means not everyone around us understands how the future will unfold.
We may not know all of the details of the future, and honestly, we don’t need to waste any time speculating on it. Time well spent is time that reveals the King’s power in how he has changed us from the inside out. As Peter described it, this means we live honorable lives that do not participate in evil.
All will bow
When we live like the royal and chosen family, not everyone will like it, but they will see our good deeds and how we glorify God by our actions. The result is that eventually they will give glory to God. The apostle Paul put it this way: “. . . so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
As you finish getting ready for your day, you won’t need to find a crown or fancy robe to demonstrate you are a part of the royal family. However, we do need to put on Christ after hopefully we once again have confessed that Jesus is Lord of all, including our hearts. Let’s go show the world what the royal family looks like and, better, acts like today!
Your time with God’s Word
1 Peter 2:9-12; Philippians 2:10-11, 14-16 ESV
Photo by William Warby on Unsplash
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