The game of checkers is a brilliant game both in its simplicity and its strategy. Move as many of your checkers diagonally from one side of the board to the other without getting “jumped.” The game is won when one player “jumps” over all his opponent’s checkers. My favorite part of the game is when I advance my checker to the other side, my opponent has to “king me” by placing one of my previously jumped checker on top of that one (like a crown). Once your checker becomes “kinged”, you are pretty much invincible as the king checker can move freely in any direction. Oh to be kinged!

But this sentiment isn’t just limited to checkers. In fact this is often the prevailing mindset in my life. I want to be “kinged.” I want to be able to move freely in any direction I please, even if that direction causes me harm. The Bible summarizes that very idea in an especially dark time in Israel’s history during the period of the judges. The writer declares in Judges 21:25, “in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” This is a doubly ironic statement, because God had always been their King, but because of their open rebellion against God, they had rejected him as king and in essence set themselves up as their own monarchy. This is captured in the idea that, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Each person was their own little kingdom in which they ruled and reigned as they saw fit. “Right” was defined my might and delight. If something feet good or made you happy, then there is nothing to keep you from experiencing it. God’s message to the people then as much as it is to me now is to repent of my rebellion and trust in God as my King. We see that in Jesus’ simple and strategic words in Mark 1:15 when he declared that “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Like my pregnant wife who is due to deliver any day now, Jesus was saying that the time of God’s redemptive history was now “nine months pregnant” and ready to deliver the seed that had been planted long ago in Genesis 3. The kingdom of God that Jesus came to inaugurate was aimed at nothing short than overthrowing our own individual kingdoms and bring us into the safety and love of his own kingdom. Yet, unlike earthly kingdoms, God overthrows our heart not by force but by the fullness of his love for us in Christ Jesus. As we see his great love, we repent of our self-love and our desire to be our own king and we believe and trust in his goodness and grace. He calls us to “king him” and to the degree we do so, the more joy and delight we will experience in him.