the throne

Another way to speak of Jesus taking control of our lives is to use the imagery of the throne of our lives. Sitting on the throne is the ruler. So, the goal of discipleship is to get Jesus on the throne. How does this happen?

Who is on the throne now? If you are on the throne of your life then you need to get off that throne for Jesus to get on. Discipleship happens when a throne emptied by you is filled by Jesus. Jesus will not jump up on your lap.

So the emptying (death to self) becomes the way to be filled. Filled by the Spirit who takes charge of the throne. The way God has chosen for us to die to self is the way of spiritual disciplines. We do not change directly. We do not will ourselves to be empty.

“I am a humble empty vessel ready to be filled by you, God….Right now!”

It doesn’t work that way. “Me” on the throne is not going to leave easily. The direct approach will be a lot of kicking and screaming. I have to “trick” my sinful nature that just “wants what I want, and I want it now.” This is where the spiritual disciplines come in. It is like doing an “end around” of my self. I am going to reflect on a few of these in the days ahead. These disciplines are the ones Jesus himself modeled in order to gain access to his heavenly Father.