Pray for the king
My child, fear the Lord and the king. Don’t associate with rebels, for disaster will hit them suddenly. Who knows what punishment will come from the Lord and the king? Proverbs 24, 21&22
Here is another scripture that backs up the law that the “king” works for God. It also gives instruction not to associate with rebellious people and to consider/submit to the consequences that will result from standing against authority. This includes conversations disapproving of current restrictions that are being imposed. It doesn’t mean that the king, president, governor, mayor or any other leader is always right, but as it says in Romans 13, these are in position for your good to uphold law and order in the land. So again, I want to reinforce the importance of praying for those who make the laws and decision for our towns, our country and our world. As we pray for them, not only does our heart change toward that authority, but we become thankful for our leadership and our land.
The scripture only gives one exception to this principle, it is when laws are made that you worship other gods. God gave the law that we are to have no other god before Him and we can see examples of people in the scripture that were being forces to worship images to the point of death. When king Nebuchadnezzar issued an edict that everyone was to bow down and worship his golden image, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused. However, they did maintain their respect and honor for the king. They didn’t go off talking behind his back saying: “who does he think he is telling us we have to bow down to his image?” When they were brought before the king, they didn’t take on a rebellious and prideful attitude fighting all the way. They spoke to the king with respect and humility. They actually were submitting to the law because they were willing to pay the price. They said “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They maintained their honor for the king and submitted to his law that they would have to be thrown into the fire because of who they worshiped.
Daniel was also faced with a similar dilemma when there was a law that the people could only pray to the king or face the lion’s den. Daniel still honored the king, and submitted to that law that if he prayed to His God, he would accept the decreed consequences. Here’s the thing about submitting to authority, submission is only required when you don’t agree with the authorities. When you agree with everything that is going on, you have no need to submit because you are in agreement. However, when there are laws that you don’t agree with, such as driving 55mph or social distancing, that is when you can clearly see how submissive your heart is.
Today I want to encourage you to submit your heart not only to the local, state and federal authority, but mostly to God’s ways and laws. This is where true submission starts. If you say, “I’ll submit to God, but not to the laws that are in this world right now”. This is not submitting to God because He said to submit to authority. Make a decision and commitment to your Heavenly Father today that you are not only going to submit to authority but also pray for them. Not just the ones you like and agree with, but for all of them.
Today’s scripture reading: Proverbs 24
The Daily Dose 