Live Like the King (Part 1)

I don’t know about you, but when I was still young and naive a king to me was an honourable person. He had to be educated and be an example to his subjects. To me the king had to be morally sound.

But as I matured and got to know life, I discovered that this was certainly not the case. A king was just a human being in whom the inborn lust for power and wealth was often very prevalent and within easy reach. The record of kings of Israel in the books of Kings and Chronicles in the Bible portrayed this fact vividly. We see the same tendency in the modern history of kings and presidents of countries.

One King, however, did the job perfectly. Sadly His crown was not made of gold, but of thorns, and his palace were the dusty streets among the poor. He was truly honourable and impeccable in the area of morality. This He lived and taught while He was on earth and had it recorded in the Handbook of life, the Bible.

Look with me at one teeny weenie part of the Bible; one verse out of 31,173 verses – a verse that, if you live it, will make you a person living like the King.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things,” (Philippians 4:8).

This is the thought pattern of the King of kings and He revealed it to us so we can share in it, in order to live like Him.

Think about whatever is true.

Filter the truth out from the information you receive and live by it. Challenge lies from others and determine to resist lies from your own mouth at all cost. Reveal the truth. Stand for the truth. The Holy Spirit has given the gift called the ‘Word of Knowledge’ to help you distinguish the truth. If you desire it, you will get this Word of Knowledge when you need it. You will just know when something is not true. Use it with wisdom.

You are the salt of the earth. You need to be instrumental in purifying your world from the lie, as salt purifies meat and prevents decay. Think and pray about truth at all times. The ultimate truth is the Word of God -meditate on it and proclaim it.

Think about whatever is honourable.

Another translation uses the word ‘noble’. Are you proud of your behaviour and conduct? One hundred years plus ago honour was important to some societies. A nobleman was a person to be respected and honoured. To be honourable means to be honoured by others and by God because of your behaviour and not due to your social position.

As a believer you serve an honourable or noble King and, as His image bearer and representation, we need to be equally honourable. Is it not exciting to think of yourself as honourable or noble? So let’s live up to it?

Think about whatever is just.

You only need to see the news to be aware of all the injustice in the world. Inherently people are selfish and as a result act unjustly. We should monitor ourselves to see whether our conduct is always just. You may feel that you are always fair, but need to be aware that injustice comes in many forms. Do you think, for example, it is just to gossip? The moment one gossips, the listener has an impression of the person one spoke about. This is unfair to both the listener and the victim, since the listener will now probably regard the person based on what the gossiper told them. Their first impression of the person was not formed through interaction with him/her, but through what the gossiper said. It is also unfair to the person one spoke about for the same reasons. Can you see the subtle ways in which injustice puts out its ugly head?

We also need to be the salt of the earth where it comes to injustice. We need to address it wherever we have the opportunity. You may be in a position to address major injustices, or you may simply reprimand a gossiper and refuse to listen to gossip to prevent you from forming inaccurate opinions.

Father, please guide my thoughts and behaviour to meet your standards.

To be continued.