Throne of Hearts

The Stone of Scone is a stone that supposedly all the “legitimate” rulers of Scotland were/are crowned on. After one of the many wars between England and Scotland, the English King Edward I took the stone to England, where it generally remained until 1996 as the coronation “cushion” of the (soon) British Crown. One of the legends of the stone was that when the “real” heir to the Scottish throne was crowned, the stone would groan.

The legend, of course, probably had more to “prove” that the English nobility had no “true” right to the Scottish crown than anything else. There was also the knowledge that the stone’s home was really Scotland, but became the cushion of the usurpers.

Thrones were/are the symbols of legitimate authority over a nation or community. There is still plenty of royalty who sit on thrones. As monarchies die off and lose their importance, thrones have been replaced.

In the United States, the Oval Office could be considered at least a throne room. If you were to look at the arrangements of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court, you will see similarities between the chairs of leaders and thrones. That isn’t by chance.

We seek throne rooms and thrones. Not always for ourselves, but to understand who is in charge, and often who we can blame.

Job seeks the throne of God to plead his case (another reason people seek thrones). Job believes that were he only to get there and plead his case, everything would get better.

Job defends or describes God with many positive terms and observations of God’s power. Yet, Job talks about God obscuring the throne. This could be an observation, however, where it is among Job’s words, it is likely a complaining observation (God is making it hard to find him).

With God, though, while it may seem while God is far away or hidden, it is often our hearts that are truly far away. Job’s story is not about God’s lack of presence, it is more about Job’s faith.

We see just how close God is to us through the life of Jesus. Jesus calls people into his presence. His throne is with him at all times. Jesus drew people to him that dismissed on the very outset (such as Nathanael). Sometimes the throne we are seeking is right there next to us, but we are looking for something that God does not always make known the way we want God to. God’s throne could be the sun, the Milky Way, the person next to you, in your heart and soul.

The last “throne room”, though, is the one we like the least. It often reminds us of how small we are. It also reminds us of how spiteful or petty we are. That’s not the throne room we are looking for. It is also the throne room that tells us that we have far to go; we are not there yet.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to see the throne you occupy in our lives. May we see your majesty and royalty. Jesus, thank you for the cleansing work in our lives, help us to keep the Godly throne room in our hearts and souls clean. Holy Spirit, guide our work so that we do it all for God’s glory and not our own. Amen.

1) How do you envision a throne room?

2) If you had to choose the most important throne room of the world, where would it be? Who would be in it? (Note: context of the world; God/Jesus is not this answer)

3) What kind of person draws you closer to them? What does that tell you what you look for in regards to God? What way might that mean you are not looking to God?