The young boy jumped the two courtyard steps in one single bound. In his mind the distance travelled not mere feet, but miles. But as he neared the ground, he promptly realized his folly; his newfound speed out lied his yet to be found skills to land such an adventurous undertaking. And as a result, his gravity-fueled trip coming back down to meet the earth was less than desirable. The ground greeted him harshly, resulting in him tumbling upon the hard stone. As he stood and dizzily righted himself, he glanced down at his left knee. And what he saw terrified him. A long scrape was slowly being overcome by a crimson liquid creeping across the surface. The terror gave way to fear and the fear to tears. And in this moment, he knew where he had to go.
To approach the palace of the king was tricky business. To get inside the palace was even trickier. But to get inside the throneroom of the king was impossible. And even if you could manage to find your way past the countless sword and pike wielding guards, to approach the king on his throne without an appointment was guaranteed death. Yet the young boy easily found his way through the empty echoing halls of the palace and approached the massive carved double wooden doors of the throneroom. As he paused at the doors, he glanced up at the two guards diligently manning their posts, trying his best to hold back the flood of tears. And then he simply pushed the doors wide and ran inside, his intended mission clear. What most commoners would approach with great fear, he boldly ran for…the throne of the king. And when he arrived at the grand gold-leaf encrusted chair holding the king, he did not simply stop and kneel as all else would do. Instead he did something unheard of. He grabbed ahold of one kingly leg and proceeded to climb the great distance up to the one place he knew he needed to be. In the very arms of the king.
As he felt the warm embrace he knew so well, as he experienced the warm touch of the powerful and confident hands, he desperately desired in that moment for them to quickly and seamlessly transfer the comfort he knew they were capable of. His tears started to flow, him letting the seemingly uncontrollable emotions flow from him into this strange ethereal embrace. The fear, the terror, and the pain of his accident overcame him, his tears streaming well beyond his cheek’s capacity. The tears soaked deeply into the royal robe of the king, feeling as a permanent transfer of the pain from him to another place. You see, in this instant, in this moment, he did not simply need a king…he needed his dad.
Folks, this morning I woke up needing more than just a king, I needed a loving father. And in my prayer of need, I praised the Lord that He is not merely my Creator, He is not merely the Creator of all that has ever been created, He is my Heavenly Father. You see, those many years ago when I fell on my knees and asked Jesus to save this sinner, more than redemption happened. Adoption happened. In that moment, through the power of Jesus Christ, I was adopted into the royal family of God. I should never be able to approach the palace of God. But thanks be to Jesus, I can. I should never be able to part the doors of the throneroom without an appointment. But glory to Jesus, I can. And friends, I should never be able to approach the throne, much less climb into the arms of the King…but all praise be to Jesus Christ, because of Him, I can not only kneel at the feet of the King, but I can crawl into His caring and loving arms when this world gets to be too much.
If life today has beat you up, tossed you around, and has you on the ropes, where do you go? Let me tell you, there is no other place better than the arms of your Heavenly Father. If in this moment, you can’t call God your loving Father, you can. Admit that you have sinned, and in that, your imperfect sin separates you from a perfect God. One sin is enough to keep you out of the perfect throneroom of God. But through Jesus, through His perfect life sacrificed upon the cross and raised three days later, God made a way for the world in which He loves so much. If you believe that Jesus can redeem you from your sin, He will. All you must do is ask Him in that great faith-fueled belief. And friends, in the moment you ask, you will be redeemed and adopted into the family of God. And from that point forward, when you glance down and see the wounds of this world materialize after your falls, you can go to the safest, most comforting locale in the universe…into the arms of the King.
May you find peace and rest in His arms today ~ Dan
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will” Ephesians 1:4-5
photo ~ Cozumel, cataran, Quintano Roo, Mexico
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