[2023.6.8] The Basin: Be Careful What You Crown

Sometimes the thing you call on to save you will end up enslaving you. Something that you think is going to save you will actually enslave you. Now, I'm not going to preach this right now. If I were preaching it, I would build up to it a whole lot more than I just did. But I'm just getting the idea down because what's a powerful thought, he's telling them, yeah, you can get a king and he'll fight your battles. And you know, if you get the right king, he'll definitely drive back your enemies and give you a measure of protection. But there's going to be a cost to having a king like the other nations, right? Moses even warned in Deuteronomy that the kind of king they would need in order to lead them in God's ways couldn't be like the surrounding nations and cultures. But they wanted to be like the other nations and cultures because they didn't want to be vulnerable. And out of their vulnerability, they came to Samuel and said, we need a king. We need a king like the other nations. And Samuel says, you don't know what the king is going to cost you. If you let God be your king and follow his ways, he'll fight your battles, he'll give you the necessary leadership. The system that he set up will work. If you try to do this like the world does it, it's going to cost you to have that kind of king. And he actually uses the word slave. The king that you choose will make you its slave. Now, Bob Dylan said, you have to serve somebody. Everybody's got to serve somebody. I heard him sing that song in concert a couple months ago when we went to see him, thought it was awesome. He did a real rock version of it. But it's true, right? You're going to have a king in your life. You're going to place the crown on somebody or something. For some people it's going to be wealth, financially status, socially. For some people it's going to be acceptance by a certain group or a certain person. For some of us it's going to be appearance based. For some of us it's going to be achievement based, a certain type of achievement, academic achievement, career achievement, whatever. The thing is that you bow to and you call, you come rather when it calls, that's your king. We get into sometimes addictions because the feeling that we get from that thing that we're addicted to becomes greater than the freedom that God has called us to. And we choose that feeling over our freedom to serve God and what he's doing. What is the King you have chosen? At different seasons in my life, I hate to say I have chosen the king of comfort. I have. I've chosen to worship at the altar of comfort rather than to accept a challenge God put in front of me. You know, what? I knew in my spirit was the right thing to do was too difficult, so I didn't do it. I chose comfort. I chose to play it safe. I chose. I chose not to serve because I thought it would cost too much of myself. Or even I could say I chose comfort and wouldn't come around to God's way of seeing something because my way of seeing it made me feel right. And I didn't want that to be challenged. So when we talk about kings, don't think about presidents and world leaders and, you know, the monarchy. And don't think about it like that. Think about what you've crowned in your own heart as king. The Bible talks about in the New Testament setting apart in your hearts Christ as Lord to say that Jesus is king, that he is the true king. Do we really believe that? If he is king of our hearts and our lives, then what does it mean for us to submit to Him? What does it mean to say His Word is final? What does it mean for us to say that he has authority in our lives? What does it mean to say that we bow our knee to Him? What does it mean for us to say that Jesus is Lord? Does it mean anything? Or does it just mean that he's our get out of jail, get out of hell free card? You know, he doesn't desire just that place in our life. He wants to protect us, guide us, lead us, reign over us. And not just so he will do whatever he says. And, you know, not just so so that we can have obedience to him, but so that we can have deliverance through Him. He wants to liberate us. He wants to show the world that he's great through us. He wants to break chains for us. He wants to come through for us. He wants to protect us from anxiety and fear and selfishness and greed and everything that is destructive to our souls. But we end up choosing other kings, other things. The Bible says, seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. But we choose things instead of the kingdom, and instead of the things being provided by the king, we end up missing the kingdom of God, the internal and eternal realities. One thinker said that the kingdom of God is upside down and inside out. And I Want to teach a whole session on that one day. The the upside down, inside out Kingdom of God how it's completely contrary to the world's values. Blessed are the poor in spirit, they'll be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are you when men persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you. I don't rejoice in persecution, I rejoice in popularity. I'm not saying that our whole goal is to be disliked, but you see how upside down the kingdom of God is. And furthermore, it's inside out, where earthly kingdoms are established, directed and estimated and esteemed by how much external prestige they have, how beautiful and ornate and elaborate the kingdom is, is a reflection on the glory and splendor of that king. Well, the kingdom of God is established through an internal state. Righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the kingdom of God. This is the kingdom of God from the inside out, upside down. And many of us have chosen the wrong king because we worship something external. We worship something that's really beneath the ways of God, that's really beneath the principles of God. The danger in that is what Samuel said to the Israelites. You call on a king to save you, and yeah, maybe that king can save you. Maybe you can get popular. Maybe you do earn a lot of money, but at the expense of your health and your relationships, because you don't do it God's way. Nothing wrong with having finances, nothing wrong with having great relationships, a great reputation. Nothing wrong with popularity in and of itself. But if that's your king, what you call on to save you, he will eventually enslave you. Don't laugh at my handwriting. I know it's bad, but it gets the point down for me. See, we need a king. But when you run to something to save you that isn't God or is opposed to God, that thing will eventually enslave you. And this is just a deeper teaching on something that I've referenced from the pulpit at least a dozen times in the last couple of years. I used the analogy of God's people going to Egypt in a famine and how they were fed in Egypt, but then another pharaoh arose and eventually enslaved the people of God. What they escaped to in one season, they were enslaved by, in the next, they weren't doing Anything wrong by going to Egypt. That's where God provided for them. But it illustrates a dynamic that does happen in our lives. In one season, something is an escape for us, and in the next season, we are enslaved by what we escape to. And that's a whole teaching that I've already done. This is an even deeper level than that because again, our key phrase is the king you have chosen. You will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen. And that's a powerful picture. Wait, you chose this king, you chose this lifestyle. You chose to throw yourself into this and make it the ultimate thing in your life with no balance, with no regard for other things. God is speaking. You chose to crown this thing in your life as supreme and make it your highest priority. And then that becomes your slave master, that becomes your chain. The thing that you crown as your king owns you. The word own is in the word crown, because that's how it works. So Samuel's warning is really relevant to us. Be careful what you crown. Be careful who you give the keys to validation in your life. Be careful who you crown. Because yes, there can be a thing that you can use to save you from loneliness, to save you from feeling insignificant, to save you from boredom, to save you. But it can just as easily enslave you. That's what Samuel wants them to know, and they don't listen. And we, we need to heed this warning today because we have a king. Somebody say it. I have a king. He is crowned at the right hand of God, and he lives inside of me. So I don't need another king. I don't need somebody else's approval to know that my life is valuable. I don't need to reach a certain status to know that I matter, because I have a king. The king I want to choose is the king that has chosen me. He's chosen me to be his child. He's chosen me to be a part of his kingdom. He's chosen me to represent him. So here's the reflection tonight. What is the king you have chosen? Some of us have chosen to make sex the king of our life, preference, career, even the way others see us. The list can go on and on. But be careful, because you will eventually cry for relief from any king you choose that is not God. Any king other than Jesus. You will eventually cry for relief from the very king that you called on to save you, because only he can save you. Only he can give you meaning. Only God's ways work long term. Be careful. The king that you crown. There's a cost to crowning the wrong king. Definitely cost Israel to crown Saul as king. And it's cost me anytime I've crowned something other than God, other than my commitment to doing his will as king of my life. It's cost me. It's cost me sleep. It's cost me peace. It's cost me time. It's cost me stability. So I just want you to think carefully about the king that you've chosen today, and hopefully you and I can get better about reserving our crown for the only one who's worthy of it. To know that Jesus is the worthy king of our life and the Holy Spirit is the captain and that God is calling the shots concerning us and we don't have to crown another king. We can call on him and he will save us from every pestilence, from every pit. He's a good God and we can trust Him. And I encourage you to know that today and crown him as the king of your life. Hey. Thank you for watching. Make sure you subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a single video or live stream and share this video with a friend. And don't forget, you can join me live every Sunday. Thanks again for watching.