Faith Like The King

As a child, I was always intrigued by the noble understanding of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Living in a child-like fantastic world, this legend was filled with integrity, justice, chivalry, compassion and noble strength.  All the while the principles echoed in my soul. I dreamed of becoming a part of something so valuable that I would die for it. I longed to defend something.  Something bigger than myself.  Soon blocks of wood and sticks became swords. My brother and I would recruit our friends in the neighborhood to construct weapons to defend this kingdom from an onslaught of hordes. These hordes were bigger and wicked than you could ever imagine.  But we were the good guys.  Willing to do what was right and honorable.  The biggest argument between us often was who would represent the King and have the honor of wielding Excalibur (Arthur's renowned sword). Afterall, when Excalibur came on the scene no one could resist its might.  Whatever it took, we would defend the honor of the kingdom. If that meant going down fighting... so be it. But be rest assured, the kingdom would continue to stand.  Arthur and the knights were my heroes. To be like Arthur was my dream. To be like the King is what I desired. As I grew up, I put away the play swords, but the echo in my soul never left. This was evidenced by my choices in movies and my avid interest in history.

Echos are interesting.  They are kind of like shadows.  We can see or hear them, but they are not exactly real.  They are more like reflections.  They offer no real substance in and of themselves.  Because they are reflections, they are often distorted.  Miriam Webster defines an echo as, "the repetition of a sound caused by reflection of sound waves" and "the sound due to such reflection".  I was hearing the sound of a kingdom.  But I did not know where it was coming from.  I heard it in more than just the Arthurian tales.  I heard it in old war movie classics like "To Hell and Back" and "Sgt. York".  It was in many comic books that I read. 

In time, my "echo" found its true source. The source was more majestic, more noble, more kingly than any "echo" could ever be. The message resounded from a person.  I found the real King (Rev. 17:14). He is a king who was willing to die for his people (Rom.5:8). A king filled with integrity, justice, chivalry, compassion and noble strength. A king filled with truth and with no spot or blemish found in him (1 Peter 1:9). The only difference was that he was not made of legend, fantasy or myth. He was not an echo. He was real. And there were "knights" that were willing to fight and die for him. Excalibur became more than a fantastic sword that only one knight could wield at a time. It was given to every knight that was willing to take his/her stand in the kingdom. This is what C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien referred to as the "True Myth".   My fantasy heroes were replaced by real historical heroes that reflected the King. Men like Polycarp, Athanasius, Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, John Wesley, George Whitfield, D.L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, A.W.Tozer, and Leonard Ravenhill took their place at the round table as joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). These are my heroes of the faith. On this journey of strength, God has taught me much. Nothing echoes in my heart more than "The Faith of The King". To be like Jesus is what I long for.