This is the Windsor family crest on the gate to Buckingham Palace. Don’t be fooled, that is pure Gold! It’s fun when you’re a kid to dream of being a Prince or Princess someday,but why is that? I, personally, think when we’re kids we watch princess movies and see the pretty girls and naturally want their dazzling lives, but as we grow older does this really change much?
I can still remember the day Kate Middleton married into the royal family. Unlike most mornings, I awoke to the sound of heavenly trumpets echoing from the downstairs television. The surprising, and somewhat adorable, part of this memory is it wasn’t my mom watching the wedding at 4am during a work week with my younger sister, but rather my dad. There they were cuddled up together with my sister’s polka-a-dot comforter watching Kate Middleton, the commoner, walk down the isle of Westminster Abbey to marry Prince William on international television. So men, you are just as guilty of being infatuated with the idea of royalty as us women.
Kate Middleton is the real-life fairytale princess. Whether or not we want to admit it, we all envy her in some way. However, the royal life we dreamed of as children is different than the one we dream of now. Being a princess as a child meant sparkly dresses and befriending talking animals, but now… it means designer ball gowns, luxurious cars, and our name plastered on every tabloid magazine imaginable. So why do we want this?
It all goes back to something a friend recently asked me, who’s your king? The bible says “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” Matthew 6:24. I interpret wealth as symbolizing just one of the many forms of idolization in this day in age; money, material items, status, success, sensuality, attention, entertainment. Wealth is just one of the many things we give value to over God. In reality, we really struggle with much more than just wealth.
We idolize these royal families, tracking their lives, documenting their every move- trust me I’m guilty of this too. On the outside they appear to have everything; money, status, material items, attention…the list could stretch for miles. In our pursuit of these things we will ultimately lose track of who our real King is, God. Our pursuit of the alluring attributes of this world will only leave us bitter towards God. Yes, there are things we need in this life- obviously we can’t survive in a cardboard box living solely off of ramen noodles. The moment we think we can place equal value on God and the desires of this world is the same moment in which we’ve already lost sight of our master. So I’ll ask you, who is your King?
TwentySomething 