King David gave his word to Solomon that he would inherit the throne, once his time was done. But David's eldest son, Adonijah, took it upon himself to push forward as the new king of Israel. This was not God's plan and David was not pleased. Thankfully, David was still alive when Adonijah made his selfish move and was able to put a stop to it (1 Kings 1:5-30).
Imposters, the world is full of them - people who pretend to be something they are not. An imposter is a deceiver, fake or fraudulent. One fairly recent example of an imposter occurred in the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, Germany. Frank Shorter, an American marathon runner led the race for the majority of the 26 plus mile event. To his surprise, he entered the arena for his final lap to the jeers of the crowd. Apparently Norbert Sadaus had already entered the stadium moments earlier as the champion of the race. Shorter was perplexed because he was never passed. Turns our Sadaus 'imposed' himself into the race, just before the stadium, and was wildly cheered by the spectators. Thankfully, he did not fool the officials and Shorter was rightfully declares the winner, receiving the gold medal.
What imposters do is cause a lot of confusion, like: who is the winner, who is the boss, who makes the decisions? When an imposter inserts himself/herself into a situation there is conflict. Adonijah, David's firstborn, did just that in Israel. But one clear word from David was all it took for the imposter to be put in his place. The same was true for Norbert to be put in his rightful place - a fraud.
There are many times that I, like Adonijah and Norbert, need to be put in my place. I need someone to say, 'Hey, you're not in charge', or, 'You are not in first place here, buddy'. You see, I want to be my own king and yet I've given my life to the King of Kings (He is called that for a very good reason). This is where the conflict lies. Every time I try to run my life I ruin it and every time I allow God to run my life I end up doing quite well.
The truth is, we all want to be a 'king'. Isaiah tells us, 'We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way' (Isaiah 53:6).
God has a plan for my life, but I want what I want. Now I, like many others, have given the reins of my life over to His reign. I did this once and for all, and then sadly, I have had to many times over. The rule of my life is in constant flux between God and myself. But God never wavers, it is I who too often struggle with being double-minded. Moving forward, my desire is to align my desires with God.
If God so desired, He could set up His kingdom on earth - and trust me, every knee would bow... But this is not the kind of kingdom God desires. He doesn't want loyal subjects, He wants loving servants. This was why Israel struggled with Jesus. They wanted a kingdom of power (like David) to destroy their enemies. Little did they know their real enemy was themselves (sin). Jesus came to bring a kingdom based on peace that would impact and change their hearts. He never intended to rule a place, but a people. He made it clear to Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36).
My kingdom or God's Kingdom? Who is the rightful ruler? King David said it was Solomon (Peace) and the Olympic judges said it was Frank Shorter. As for me, I say, 'Your Kingdom Come' in 2024.
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