As Holy Week begins today - Palm Sunday, we invite you pray with a song as a way of entering into the mystery of what we are celebrating. Before you have a read of the blog, listen to the song and ask Jesus to speak to you through the power of the words.

Today, we pray with King of my Heart written by Bethel.

King Of My Heart (Live) [Lyric Video] | Bethel Music - YouTube

I have some very fond childhood memories of carrying a banner proclaiming “Jesus is King” through the streets in our local churches Palm Sunday procession.  I was (and still am) proud to call Jesus my King.  And if you’d asked me then what kind of King He was, I think I would even have answered that He was (and is) “King of my heart”!  And if you’d asked me to explain what it meant for Jesus to be King of my heart, I think I would have told you that it meant He was the boss in my life. 

This kind of understanding of Jesus as king lends itself really well to such Lenten reflections as “is Jesus really the boss in my life?” and “what might need to change for that really to be true?”

But Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, and marks a shift of focus in our reflections.  And Bethel’s song “King of my Heart” helps us to make this shift. 

You see, my childhood concept of king as boss was a bit limited.  Actually, in return for being the boss, a king has responsibilities to his people: to protect them, to provide for them, and to take care of them. 

If Lent so far has been a time of reflecting on how much I really let Jesus be the boss in my life, in Holy Week we now turn to reflecting on just how far He is prepared to go in fulfilling His responsibilities to His people. 

Being King, for Him, is not just about the “Hosannas” of the people, but about pouring out His life to be “the fountain [we] drink from”.  His throne is a cross, planted on the mountain of Calvary, “the mountain where [we] run” to beg for and receive His mercy. 

That Cross is both “the ransom for my life” and “the shadow where I hide” when under attack.  It anchors me in the truth of just how much I am loved, and that truth puts “the wind inside my sails” and the “fire in my veins” that allow me to flourish in life.

When I look upon Jesus crucified, I look upon my King, and the refrain: “You are good” is my natural response.  I know that He is “never going to let me down.”

Katherine Stone