Could It Have Been?

Many were the days as a young boy that I spent in the backyard of my parent's home fending off dragons and rescuing fair maidens form evil men of old. Much like Don Quixote's windmill, I had an old, gigantic oak tree that served to feel the brunt of my wrath. Many were the leaves that fell to the ground as dragon's scales slowly giving way to the behemoth's soft underbelly. I always vanquished my foe, and rescued the maiden, yet the beast always returned to challenge me the next day.

One of the saddest days of my life was the day I realized that I really was too old to continue fighting imaginary dragons, and hung up my sword and shield. You may have had a similar experience, where the realization that adulthood was near and you would have to leave all of your childish dreams behind. I hated to leave the nobler days of knighthood behind me; it was one of the toughest things to lose in my childhood. Little did I know that a mere twenty-five years later I would begin to re-visit some of those thoughts and dreams of my youth.

Knights of old have always fascinated me. I don't know if it is the swords, the chain mail or just the ideals they stood for, but I have always found them interesting. I always wanted to be the knight that fought against overwhelming odds, with truth as my shield dispensing righteousness with my sword and triumphing over every evil enemy all the while winning the heart of a fair maiden. Any movie with swords and knights seemed to call to me saying, "Come join us in our noble adventures."

I remember my sword, which in my mind's eye always gleamed with the shine of polished silver with gold inlaid in the handle, but which in reality was made of wood. That sword was my constant companion and I was quick to dispense justice to any brigand who dared behave in any manner unworthy of the crown.

There was a time when I wondered if I had been born into the wrong time, and that maybe I should have been born during the era of knights and kings. Then one day I gave my heart to Jesus Christ and received the free gift of salvation and realized that He had a plan for my life and it could not have been fulfilled during that time period, but had to be in this present day.

As the Spirit of God told Jeremiah, "Before you were formed in your mother's belly I knew you." (Jeremiah 1:5) It was by accepting Jesus as my Lord that I was removed from the kingdom of darkness and placed into the Kingdom of Light. I went from not having a King, to having one in a moment of time.

One of the things that I find curiously odd is that the Holy Spirit moved on James the king of England to have the Bible translated so that all men and women would be able to read God's Word. This was done during the time when knights roamed the European countryside. I mean God could have chosen any time to move upon someone to translate the Bible into a common tongue, why did He choose that time?

Could it be because that what the knights of that time stood for were very similar to the attributes that God wants His men to achieve? After all when God talks about the armor of God in Ephesians, His equipment list is that of a knight's isn't it? (Ephesians 6:10 - 18) This excites me to think that perhaps there is more here than a little boy's fantasy about slaying dragons and saving damsels in distress?

Maybe, just maybe God has a plan for us as men and we were closer to understanding it when we were ten playing in our back yard. Perhaps that wasn't as much playing, as it really was preparation for the lives that He wants us to live, the lives of knights of the realm, His Realm.

Well suit up then men, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!