Power Struggle

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere. 1 Corinthians 15:28

THE POWERFUL KING of a tiny Polynesian island discovered that his enemies on a distant island were planning an invasion by war canoes. The king was determined not only to defend his life but to protect his most valuable possession: a huge, golden throne that sat in the middle of his grass hut. So the king recruited thousands of warriors and stationed them all around his hut.

But just to be on the safe side, the king decided to hide his golden throne. So he had his strongest warriors lift the thousand-pound throne into the wooden rafters of his grass hut and cover it with grass. With his army outside and his throne safely hidden above, the king lay down on his mat and went to sleep.

During the night, the king’s warriors were awakened by a loud noise coming from the king’s grass hut. They rushed in to find that the rafters had first weakened and then collapsed under the weight, and the throne had crashed to the floor where the king was sleeping. The king, who had planned his defense so well, was dead.

The moral of the story: People who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones. Ouch! What a silly twist on the old proverb that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. But this story reminds us that not everything goes right for even the most powerful people in the world. Think about it:

Adolf Hitler swayed millions of people to his Nazi beliefs, but multiplied millions rejected him and his murderous philosophy.
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is one of the richest men in the world, but that doesn’t mean he can buy a cure for cancer or AIDS.
Tiger Woods might become the winningest golfer of all time, but his success doesn’t relieve him of sand traps and water hazards.
Hillary Rodham Clinton might someday become the country’s first woman president, but she can’t keep wars from happening around the world.

There is only one undisputed, supreme authority: the God and Father of our living Lord, Jesus Christ. No thing or person is his equal in power, authority, capability, wisdom, or wealth. The Resurrection proved that God rules over both life and death. By trusting Christ and becoming a member of God’s family, you’re a child of the most powerful and influential person in heaven, earth, and hell!

REFLECT: Is there anything the God of life and death can’t do? Do you have any problem he cannot help you overcome? No-the Resurrection proved it!

PRAY: Talk to God about the difficulties you are facing today. Invite him exercise his resurrection power in you.