The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,
All on a summer’s day;
The Knave of Hearts
He stole those tarts,
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he’d steal no more.
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Children and adults alike would do well to remember this classic nursery rhyme. We must keep in mind that, just like the king in the nursery rhyme, our own King will not let unrepentant sin go unpunished. What amazes me is how the King knew exactly who the thief was in a day with no camera recordings 🙂
There is an old saying: “what Momma don’t know won’t hurt her”. Now without going into the error of that particular philosophy, let us ask ourselves if we ever use the same line of thinking about God. Do we think that there is anywhere we can hide from our all-seeing King? We may be able to pull a fast one over “Momma”, but God is not so easily fooled.
Friends, we often make generous excuses for ourselves – we might excuse ourselves into thinking that our sin really isn’t all that bad, or maybe that we are more righteous than we really are. Oftentimes our excuses can kid others as well as ourselves, but you can’t kid a kidder: and you certainly can’t kid the King!
Since the beginning of time people have been trying to kid God, hiding away from His correction in guilt and dishonorable cowardice. We meet our Lord like a dog with it’s tail between it’s legs, hoping our master will not see the mess we have made. Ladies, do we ignorantly think our wise master so blind to the truth?
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
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Let us look at a few biblical examples of those who tried to kid the king….
Adam and Eve – they couldn’t hide their shame in the garden. (Genesis 3:9-10)
Jonah couldn’t hide in the boat. (Jonah 1:3-4)
The Scribes couldn’t hide their evil thoughts. (Matthew 9:3-4)
Peter couldn’t hide his denial. (Matthew 26:33-35)
Judas couldn’t hide that he was the betrayer. (John 13:25-27)
I could go on and on! All those who try to kid the King have a 100% failure rate, 100% of the time!
Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
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Our congregation has been doing a bible study on the sovereignty of God. We have been reminded that God is not only a father and a friend (though He is both of those things), but He is also a most Holy King! We can not lose sight of God’s holiness and sovereignty or we will become lackadaisical Christians living far-too-comfortable lives….never stepping outside our comfort zone and reaching the lost; or even confronting the sin in our own lives!
We are called to be vigilant and on the alert. Do not try to kid the King with fraudulent “name-tag-only” Christianity – He knows us better than that!
Let’s be honest…where are our hearts, truly?
Are they locked into God’s word? …Are they growing?
Or have we grown lackadaisical in our spiritual life and forsaken our first love?
Psalms 69:5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
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Friends, how easily we become distracted by the things of this world…
It is to our shame that we allow rubbish to enter into us when we have known the truth of Jesus Christ and all He has done for us. If there is an unresolved sin in your life, I would urge you to confront it. Scripture says to be sure that our sins will find us out. With that kind of warning, perhaps we would be wiser to find our own sin before it “finds” us….am I right?
Job 34:21-22 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
In our poem, the knave of hearts began a foolish man but finished a victor over his sin. The same can happen for us when we let God correct us and make us new. Let us (like the knave) also vow to steal no more….
God bless, and take a chill pill!
Mrs. Dustin Bolks