My King
There is a powerful scene in the Two Towers. It is when King Theoden is talking to Gamling (his knight) before the battle of Helm’s Deep. Knowing that they will most likely die today, the king is painfully aware of their doom, and feels the weight of responsibility. He asks Gamling “who am I?”, Gamling answers “you are our king sire”… “and do you trust your king?” “your men will follow you to whatever end”.
Think of Gamling, pretend you were him in this scene. Here is your king… the guy who has let you down, failed to defend your family and friends because you are all about to die. His decisions and leadership has led you to this… you think:
“Maybe it wasn’t his fault, but the fact remains – we will all die here. Be that as it may, I choose to trust in, and follow him – he is my captain, and my hero, I love this man, and I will die for him. Does that make me insane, foolish, blind? No… that makes me a man of courage, conviction, love and sacrifice. I stand for this man’s cause, and in devoting myself to him – I find that I have value, honor and worth. How is all this sacrifice and service worth it? Why do I do it? Because… he is my king, and that’s how you serve your king. Anything less would make me a lesser man. I guess it’s more about me than about him in the end. I am a man of honor, love, courage, and sacrifice – because of the way I am devoted to my king – to whatever end.”
So here am I in the real world, 21st century. I too have a King... The King. Unlike Gamling’s king, mine IS perfect. However, my world despises the idea of living in servitude to someone… “That is not freedom” they say, “you need to be able to make your own decisions, to put yourself first, and follow your heart, not serve someone else”. Even the Christians around me have found a way to see God as their Savior, Father and best friend, but not their king. “I will serve you Jesus, but I want to have some say, some control of my own life. I want my faith in you to work like this…”
I am significant because of who I serve… and how I serve him reflects on me as a person.
Well I choose to follow you Jesus, my savior, my Captain, my King. You have my life, all of it. All that I have, all that I am, all my hopes, dreams, and even my failings – you have it all. Whatever you ask of me I will do. I Choose to love you, to believe in you, even if everything around me seems to say that you don’t love, that you aren’t just – I will believe. When it seems like you’ve left me – I will not abandon faith, when I don’t understand what you are doing and why, I will not lose faith. And when I am tempted, I will not break faith. You are my King, and I will follow you to whatever end.
Think of Gamling, pretend you were him in this scene. Here is your king… the guy who has let you down, failed to defend your family and friends because you are all about to die. His decisions and leadership has led you to this… you think:
“Maybe it wasn’t his fault, but the fact remains – we will all die here. Be that as it may, I choose to trust in, and follow him – he is my captain, and my hero, I love this man, and I will die for him. Does that make me insane, foolish, blind? No… that makes me a man of courage, conviction, love and sacrifice. I stand for this man’s cause, and in devoting myself to him – I find that I have value, honor and worth. How is all this sacrifice and service worth it? Why do I do it? Because… he is my king, and that’s how you serve your king. Anything less would make me a lesser man. I guess it’s more about me than about him in the end. I am a man of honor, love, courage, and sacrifice – because of the way I am devoted to my king – to whatever end.”
So here am I in the real world, 21st century. I too have a King... The King. Unlike Gamling’s king, mine IS perfect. However, my world despises the idea of living in servitude to someone… “That is not freedom” they say, “you need to be able to make your own decisions, to put yourself first, and follow your heart, not serve someone else”. Even the Christians around me have found a way to see God as their Savior, Father and best friend, but not their king. “I will serve you Jesus, but I want to have some say, some control of my own life. I want my faith in you to work like this…”
I am significant because of who I serve… and how I serve him reflects on me as a person.
Well I choose to follow you Jesus, my savior, my Captain, my King. You have my life, all of it. All that I have, all that I am, all my hopes, dreams, and even my failings – you have it all. Whatever you ask of me I will do. I Choose to love you, to believe in you, even if everything around me seems to say that you don’t love, that you aren’t just – I will believe. When it seems like you’ve left me – I will not abandon faith, when I don’t understand what you are doing and why, I will not lose faith. And when I am tempted, I will not break faith. You are my King, and I will follow you to whatever end.
posted by Rob Petkau at 11:02 AM
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