Training For Reigning
Who wants to be a king for a day? I’m not sure you could find anyone who for one moment, wouldn’t like to be a king (or queen). It’s what dreams are made of. The idea of being a king (or queen) is something every little boy and girl dreams of no matter where you come from or what your background is.
Of course when I ask, “who want to be king for a day?”, most people are considering the privileges, perks and benefits that come with the position. It’s not until much later on that anyone would think about the responsibility that comes with such a position.
Proverbs 31 is a proverb known for the account of a wife of noble character - ‘The Proverbs 31 Woman’. The proverb begins however talking about a king. To be more specific, it records King Lemuel’s royal words of wisdom inspired and taught by his mother. She has some straight talking advice on how Lemuel’s character and lifestyle should be on a higher level, a level fitting of a king.
Proverbs 31: 1-9 TPT
King Lemuel’s royal words of wisdom:
These are the inspired words my mother taught me. 2 Listen, my dear son, son of my womb. You are the answer to my prayers, my son. 3 So keep yourself sexually pure from the promiscuous, wayward woman. Don’t waste the strength of your anointing on those who ruin kings—you’ll live to regret it! 4 For you are a king, Lemuel, and it’s never fitting for a king to be drunk on wine or for rulers to crave alcohol. 5 For when they drink they forget justice and ignore the rights of those in need, those who depend on you for leadership. 6–7 Strong drink is given to the terminally ill, who are suffering at the brink of death. Wine is for those in depression in order to drown their sorrows. Let them drink and forget their poverty and misery. 8 But you are to be a king who speaks up on behalf of the disenfranchised and pleads for the legal rights of the defenceless and those who are dying. 9 Be a righteous king, judging on behalf of the poor and interceding for those most in need.
Training For Reigning
In 1 Corinthians Paul offers advice about reigning as kings too. He gets straight to the point when he speaks to the church in Corinth for bringing lawsuits against each other. Paul asks, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? . . . Do you not know that we are to judge angels?”
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 (ESV)
2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
Paul took for granted that the Corinthians knew they were destined for a position of royal authority. As bluntly as he could Paul tells them that if we are to judge the world, we ought to be practicing for it now by solving disputes and at the very least learning to get along.
Revelation chapter 1 gives us more insight into our future job description by telling us “that Jesus made us to rule as a kingly priesthood…”
Revelation 1:4-6 (TPT)
Now to the one who constantly loves us and has loosed us from our sins by his own blood, 6 and to the one who has made us to rule as a kingly priesthood to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion throughout the eternity of eternities! Amen!
It appears that one day we will after all be rulers….. as a kingly priesthood to serve Father God.
Picture Of A True King
In the New Testament we see a real King in action - King Jesus! A king who “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (Philippians 2:7–8). In Jesus we have the ultimate example of what a king looks and acts like.
“Kings become great not because of their own power but because of their ability to empower others.”
Responsibilities Of A King
Whilst we read much wisdom about kingly character and standards in Proverbs 31, we also read about a king’s responsibilities. When we see the responsibilities required it should activate a holy desire to act justly and bring justice to our world.
Proverbs 31: 8-9 TPT
8 But you are to be a king who speaks up on behalf of the disenfranchised and pleads for the legal rights of the defenceless and those who are dying. 9 Be a righteous king, judging on behalf of the poor and interceding for those most in need.
A King Speaks Up On Behalf Of The Disenfranchised
Disenfranchised: not having the right to vote, or a similar right, or having had that right taken away:
Cambridge Dictionary
In our training for reigning we must learn to speak up for those cannot speak for themselves or those who are not being heard. This takes humility to listen, learn and most importantly understand.
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch and do nothing. ” Einstein
A King Intercedes For The Poor And Needy
poor, needy, i.e., pertaining to persons in want (usually physical needs), who must live sparingly, and so also a class of low-status and little political power
In our training for reigning we must plead for the needs of those living with little, whether that is in a material sense or human rights.
“We want to benefits of being a king without the responsibilities that come with being a king”
A Biblical Perspective
It’s clear from a Biblical perspective that true spirituality is not centred around reciting the Bible, clocking up hours in prayer and living a perfect life. James chapter 1:27 gives us the real biblical view on true spirituality.
James 1:27 TPT
27 True spirituality that is pure in the eyes of our Father God is to make a difference in the lives of the orphans and widows in their troubles, and to refuse to be corrupted by the world’s values.
“Great kings don’t tell you what to do, they show you how it’s done.”
Training to reign from a Biblical perspective begins with learning to serve people. It means putting away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk; it means putting on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Colossians 3:8-13 (ESV)
8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
The Biblical standard for kingship is very different to the world’s view. As with much of what we see in society today, followers of Jesus are called to talk differently, speak differently and act differently - we are called to love and live like the King of Kings, King Jesus!
