Written by Joy Pedrow SYI '11 and brought to you by the Miller Summer Youth Institute at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Scripture

Zechariah 9:9-12

9   Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
           Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
      Lo, your king comes to you;
           triumphant and victorious is he,
      humble and riding on a donkey,
           on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10  He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
           and the war horse from Jerusalem;
      and the battle bow shall be cut off,
           and he shall command peace to the nations;
      his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
           and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11  As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
           I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12  Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
           today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Devotional

We desire to rule over our lives as king, but following Jesus includes giving up that control. There can only be one king—you or Jesus. Thus, we have to take off our crown.

Let’s look at the importance of the word crown. Crown is mentioned 57 times in the ESV Bible. Here are three of those verses and the importance of the crown mentioned in each verse:

  1. “And he took the crown of their king from his head” (2 Sam 12:30). David took off the crown and placed it on his head. David knew that there could only be one king.
  2. “He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head” (Job 19:9). If we don’t remove our crown, Jesus will.
  3. "You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God” Isa 62:3). When you give Jesus your crown, you become a crown of beauty in his eyes.

Jesus wore a crown of thorns. If we continue to make ourselves kings, we are mocking Jesus. We are taking the crown off his head and placing it on our own.

Who will be the king of your life—you or Jesus?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves before the Lord by taking off our prideful crowns and giving them to Jesus. So that then, and only then, we can experience the true prize—being exalted by Jesus, the one and only King. In your name we pray. Amen.

Written by Joy Pedrow SYI '11 and brought to you by the Miller Summer Youth Institute at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Scripture

Zechariah 9:9-12

9   Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
           Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
      Lo, your king comes to you;
           triumphant and victorious is he,
      humble and riding on a donkey,
           on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10  He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
           and the war horse from Jerusalem;
      and the battle bow shall be cut off,
           and he shall command peace to the nations;
      his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
           and from the River to the ends of the earth.

11  As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
           I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12  Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
           today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Devotional

We desire to rule over our lives as king, but following Jesus includes giving up that control. There can only be one king—you or Jesus. Thus, we have to take off our crown.

Let’s look at the importance of the word crown. Crown is mentioned 57 times in the ESV Bible. Here are three of those verses and the importance of the crown mentioned in each verse:

  1. “And he took the crown of their king from his head” (2 Sam 12:30). David took off the crown and placed it on his head. David knew that there could only be one king.
  2. “He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head” (Job 19:9). If we don’t remove our crown, Jesus will.
  3. "You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God” Isa 62:3). When you give Jesus your crown, you become a crown of beauty in his eyes.

Jesus wore a crown of thorns. If we continue to make ourselves kings, we are mocking Jesus. We are taking the crown off his head and placing it on our own.

Who will be the king of your life—you or Jesus?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves before the Lord by taking off our prideful crowns and giving them to Jesus. So that then, and only then, we can experience the true prize—being exalted by Jesus, the one and only King. In your name we pray. Amen.