The King is Coming
Please forgive my insatiable appetite for remembering the past and applying it to a blog. I’m sure it helps my memory faculties stay intact when I can pull out an old, true story that bears repeating. Just keeping those stories alive and well!
It’s “the king’s” birthday today! Note: the lowercase king not the uppercase King Who just had His birthday on December 25th. My teen idol was Elvis Presley. I completely understand giddy, young girls and teenagers with their adoration toward a dreamboat pop star. I followed his life in magazines and news media. And that fascination didn’t stop even when I married a dreamboat!
I’ll never forget the day when my young husband and I were in Memphis, TN, attending a Gospel quartet convention. My husband’s piano teacher, as a youth, was Joe Moscheo, the piano player for the Imperials Quartet. The Imperials, at that time, were the back-up singers for Elvis and little did we know that he would be at the convention. He was there to simply walk on stage so the Imperials could honor and thank him for his generosity to them and for elevating their careers.
Joe had given us advance notice, as well as a backstage pass, to see Elvis before he left the building. My heart was racing. I was in close proximity to my teenage idol!!! I was a basket case that I might be breathing the same air as he was. Back in those days, we used cassette players to record. I had been recording the convention’s music. This time, I pressed the record button as I saw Elvis coming our way!
In his white “onesie”, the king was coming! And, be still my heart, he nodded at me as he passed me. I reached out and touched his shoulder and shrilled into my recorder “I JUST TOUCHED ELVIS PRESLEY!” I was enamored, and all I could think about was the thrill I felt from meeting “Elvis – the King of Rock n’ Roll”! My precious husband enabled the whole experience. In fact, he also admired Elvis as an incredible musical talent. Here I am decades later, still talking about that encounter.
Silly girl that I was. But very wise girl that I am today. That encounter didn’t hold a candle to what I found to be the real deal and the REAL King. In fact, this real deal didn’t just nod and pass me by. He stopped at my heart and when I asked Him into it, He came. I am ever grateful for the encounter with THE King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, Who isn’t a distant memory but my living Savior. I can’t help but talk about my encounter with Him.
There is nothing, or no one, to compare to the encounters I have with Him on a daily basis. While seeing Elvis gave me a momentary thrill……Jesus is real right here and now. He changed my life forever. My joy, peace, comfort, and hope for tomorrow lies in knowing Him. The more I encounter Him in my prayers and praises, the more I think about Him. And the more I think about Him, the closer I want to be to Him, and best of all, I’ll get to be with Him forever. How sweet it is to have a relationship with THE King, and even better, that I’m a part of His royal family.
Have you met Him? The King is coming! I can get you better than a “back-stage” pass. I’d love to introduce you to Him and get you a one-way ticket to heaven someday. You’ll find Him to be a friend that is closer than anyone you will ever know, and I guarantee you — that encounter is one that will change YOUR life forever!