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Bow The Knee

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

One of my goals for the coming year is to “bow the knee.” It’s a recurrent theme in my life, usually, when things aren’t going the way I want them to. It might not be your goal, but today’s passages make it clear that it’s inevitable, so discussing it is probably a good idea.

Traditionally, one bowed, knelt, or prostrated oneself before one’s superior. That could be one’s god, one’s king, one’s parent, or one’s conqueror. We tend to think of it as a sign of submission and surrender. As such, it’s a position of peace. It’s also a sign of respect, allegiance, and trust. After all, how willing would you really be to bow and lower your head so that you could be attacked if you don’t trust that the person to whom you are bowing won’t use the opportunity to kill you?

This goes along with something I’ve discussed with some women before. Understandably, they get a little upset if you suggest that they submit to their husbands. It’s human nature, after all. I asked them why they married someone they believed would marry someone they were convinced would make consistently foolish, bad decisions and actively seek to do them harm at every opportunity.  I know there are women who make such bad decisions, and men who are untrustworthy and abusive, but was that true of their particular choice. Even if 99%  of men were the monsters they described, were they so foolish as to have married one? And if not, what is the problem with submission?

The same is true with God. It’s human nature that we don’t want to submit, and there are supposed deities who are abusive of their followers. If that’s what I really believe about the God I follow, the God who sacrificed His Son to save me, why am I worshipping Him at all? If “He’s not like them,” then why am I unwilling to bow the knee? The problem isn’t with Him, it’s with me. I don’t trust Him and I don’t trust myself to have made a good choice.

And yet, I know that He is not only the good choice, but the only real choice. My reluctance to bend the knee is a war against myself. That means that bowing the knee in this next year is doing what is in my best interest, meaning that I am loving myself by doing it. It is the act that will bring peace, and as such, it is an act that will grant me integrity, and therefore dignity.  It’s not just a good idea, it’s vital to our well-being.

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