Royalty

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”
John 1:12-13

When you keep track of world happenings on the internet, like my husband and I do, you can get a different perspective on life. I was catching up on the news via Yahoo when the following headline caught my eye: “Secretary by Day, Royalty by Night.” I clicked on the story because I was pretty sure, that being a king is a life-long, full-time job. It seems Miss. Peggielene Bartels is both an executive secretary at the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington D.C. and the new king (that’s what I said – king) of Otuan, Ghana. She received a call at 4:00 am telling her that her uncle the king had died and that “the ancestors had blessed her as the new king.” She struggled with whether or not she wanted the position but came to the conclusion – “You can’t escape it. It’s yours.” She visits when she gets vacation and rules via the internet and phone the rest of the time. She will relocate to Otuan in a few years when she retires from her U.S. job. In many ways she is living a double life – ordinary person by day and king by night.

Now I don’t know how many of you became a child of God and so a child of the King at 4:00am – but in reading the news story I wondered how many of us are leading double lives to some extent. Whoever we are Monday through Saturday (mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, friends, secretaries and so on) and Christians on Sundays and other occasions like Bible study. I know I may be preaching to the choir here but I want to be a Christian 24/7/365. Am I succeeding? Sometimes.
How about you? I suspect that Miss Bartels is king 24 hours a day even though she isn’t in Ghana (she still gets calls at 4:00am). We have responsibilities as well – we are to Love God, love our neighbors and love one another. That’s plenty to keep us busy. I want to encourage you to live out your royal position everyday – God will provide everything you need to be His prince or princess in this world.

A prayer
Father, by our relationship with You we have become members of The Royal Family. Like those on earth who belong to royal families, we have responsibilities because we are Your princes and princesses. Help us to live out our family responsibilities each day, so that You our King may be honored and glorified. In the name of Jesus whose blood made us family we pray. Amen