Captured by the King

People who are not professing Christians often dismiss God as a cosmic chess player. They think – or at least they think that WE think – He sits up in the sky, looking down over us, moving us here and there to suit His whim. We acknowledge, admit, welcome, and invite His divine intervention, for certain. But we never feel like His pawns. A God who can create space and time in a breath, who can create a miraculously unique human being from two tiny cells, does not need us in order to carry out His design for history. We are here because He longs for our company. What of the angels? He has legions of angels to keep Him company. But, oh! They are not made in His image, as we are. He called us forth and He has a plan for us. Oh, wow, does He have a plan for us! But He knows that forced love, forced lives, neither satisfy the one who loves nor glorify neither the one who is loved. He gave us a choice, gives us a choice every day, every moment, every thought. I think of God in no way like a cosmic chess player, but like a loving parent who has painstakingly and thoughtfully planned a most delightful treasure hunt for a child of immeasurable value and worth. The course is mapped, the treasures are hidden, awaiting discovery if…If the child follows the directions. If the child wants to play. If the child stays focused and doesn’t go skipping off, gleefully oblivious, into directions unplanned. But God – oh, the God Who created and loves us – is the doting parent who will guide even the most distracted child back onto the path toward treasure if...If we trust, if we choose, if we seek, we can be captured by the King.

Brian Doerksen – “Come, Now Is The Time To Worship”

One day ev'ry tongue will confess You are God
One day ev'ry knee will bow
Still the greatest treause remains for those,
Who gladly choose you now

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:45-46


p.s. -- That God you think about, sitting up there, as you scoff that I'm weak because I depend on Him? He's strong enough to move you wherever He wants you. He loves you enough to let you choose to be moved.