This serves as an explanation to the domain name I purchased, and the image of the White Knight that has overwhelmed my mind and gave me an identity.
It started as joke when playing Settlers of Catan, one of my new favorite board games. In the 6-player expansion, there are 6 colors you can choose from: blue, red, green, orange, brown, and white. I'm sure anyone can relate; everyone likes to have "their color" that they always choose. Well, I played this many times with my roommates. Bill always chose blue, I believe Scott always chose green, and so on. Well, I decided to choose white...don't know why, I just did. Then jokingly (and maybe in a cocky way too), I decided to dub myself "The White Knight". Then all of a sudden, I started winning quite a few games. Even in games I lost, I only lost by maybe 1 or 2 points. So that image stuck with me, but then God managed to put a spiritual parallel into my mind.
I don't know how or why, but I got an image from God. I'm honestly baffled as to why I got this image, but I discovered what God intended it to mean for me. I've always wanted to live a life (especially in regards to the opposite gender) marked by chivalry. What exactly does this mean? Without knowing fully how it was practiced in medieval times, I relate chivalry to selflessness and giving of oneself entirely for the purpose of another. It goes from something as simple as holding the door for my lady, to something as extreme as staring down the shaft of a gun to protect her from danger, should that horrible situation ever arise. So that's what I define as chivalry in today's modern culture. Well...who practiced chivalry in medieval times? Knights. They gave of themselves, even their lives, to protect their families and fight for their king. These are lives marked by nobility, honor, and courage. What man doesn't want these qualities said of himself?
So the image I got was of a knight. But it was more than this. Tell me...when we hear "white" described in the Bible, what do we think of? Flawlessness. Perfection. Sinlessness. And it's described as such in the Bible...Psalm 51:7 - "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Isaiah 1:18 - “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Jesus appearance in Revelation and angels' appearances in the gospels being described as white as well. So the image I got was of a knight...clothed in pure white armor. The White Knight.
As we all know, knights fought in battles, and fought nobly. This is what God calls us to be as well: "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" - Psalm 144:1. God calls us as Christians to the battlefield, there's no doubt about it. Imagine the image. This White Knight fights in the battle of his life. He fights for the protection of his family, the protection of his kingdom. And he wins the fight. He is exhausted, bloodied, beaten at the end of the battle, but he's emerged victorious. But he doesn't lay on the battlefield to die. He goes back to his kingdom as a hero, back to his loved ones who cry and have smiles as wide as the ocean. But the most beautiful image of all....still beaten and bloodied, he marches into the throne room where the king sits. He walks to the feet of his king.....lays down his sword.....and bows. This image brings a tear to my eye every time I think about it. This is our life!!! I'M the White Knight...and so is everyone else reading this! We're called to embrace the Ephesian armor, so we can stand up against the devil and his tricks. And we fight with the Sword of the Spirit...which is the Word of God. Recently I purchased a sword to hang on my wall, to remind myself of my identity and what I'm fighting with.
In my favorite book, Wild at Heart, John Eldredge also struggled with who he was as he searched for his calling and identity. He got a message from God...the passage out of his book:
So I began to pour my heart out to him in my journal. "What of me, dear Lord? Are you pleased? What did you see? I am sorry that I have to ask, wishing I knew without asking. Fear, I suppose, makes me doubt. Still, I yearn to hear from you - a word, or image, a name or even just a glance from you." This is what I heard: "You are Henry V after Agincourt...the man in the arena, whose face is covered wtih blood and sweat and dust, who strove valiantly...a great warrior...yes, even Maximus (Meridus, from the movie Gladiator)"
I received a similar message. It was much more simple, and came in my prayer time as I was in the woods:
"You are the White Knight"
I didn't need an explanation...I knew what the message meant. So I'm dedicating this blog as my personal journal of theological meditations, in honor of the name God gave me. I'm a warrior, a fighter...and eventually, a hero. Nothing on this earth or under the earth can convince me otherwise.
It started as joke when playing Settlers of Catan, one of my new favorite board games. In the 6-player expansion, there are 6 colors you can choose from: blue, red, green, orange, brown, and white. I'm sure anyone can relate; everyone likes to have "their color" that they always choose. Well, I played this many times with my roommates. Bill always chose blue, I believe Scott always chose green, and so on. Well, I decided to choose white...don't know why, I just did. Then jokingly (and maybe in a cocky way too), I decided to dub myself "The White Knight". Then all of a sudden, I started winning quite a few games. Even in games I lost, I only lost by maybe 1 or 2 points. So that image stuck with me, but then God managed to put a spiritual parallel into my mind.
I don't know how or why, but I got an image from God. I'm honestly baffled as to why I got this image, but I discovered what God intended it to mean for me. I've always wanted to live a life (especially in regards to the opposite gender) marked by chivalry. What exactly does this mean? Without knowing fully how it was practiced in medieval times, I relate chivalry to selflessness and giving of oneself entirely for the purpose of another. It goes from something as simple as holding the door for my lady, to something as extreme as staring down the shaft of a gun to protect her from danger, should that horrible situation ever arise. So that's what I define as chivalry in today's modern culture. Well...who practiced chivalry in medieval times? Knights. They gave of themselves, even their lives, to protect their families and fight for their king. These are lives marked by nobility, honor, and courage. What man doesn't want these qualities said of himself?
So the image I got was of a knight. But it was more than this. Tell me...when we hear "white" described in the Bible, what do we think of? Flawlessness. Perfection. Sinlessness. And it's described as such in the Bible...Psalm 51:7 - "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." Isaiah 1:18 - “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Jesus appearance in Revelation and angels' appearances in the gospels being described as white as well. So the image I got was of a knight...clothed in pure white armor. The White Knight.
As we all know, knights fought in battles, and fought nobly. This is what God calls us to be as well: "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight" - Psalm 144:1. God calls us as Christians to the battlefield, there's no doubt about it. Imagine the image. This White Knight fights in the battle of his life. He fights for the protection of his family, the protection of his kingdom. And he wins the fight. He is exhausted, bloodied, beaten at the end of the battle, but he's emerged victorious. But he doesn't lay on the battlefield to die. He goes back to his kingdom as a hero, back to his loved ones who cry and have smiles as wide as the ocean. But the most beautiful image of all....still beaten and bloodied, he marches into the throne room where the king sits. He walks to the feet of his king.....lays down his sword.....and bows. This image brings a tear to my eye every time I think about it. This is our life!!! I'M the White Knight...and so is everyone else reading this! We're called to embrace the Ephesian armor, so we can stand up against the devil and his tricks. And we fight with the Sword of the Spirit...which is the Word of God. Recently I purchased a sword to hang on my wall, to remind myself of my identity and what I'm fighting with.
In my favorite book, Wild at Heart, John Eldredge also struggled with who he was as he searched for his calling and identity. He got a message from God...the passage out of his book:
So I began to pour my heart out to him in my journal. "What of me, dear Lord? Are you pleased? What did you see? I am sorry that I have to ask, wishing I knew without asking. Fear, I suppose, makes me doubt. Still, I yearn to hear from you - a word, or image, a name or even just a glance from you." This is what I heard: "You are Henry V after Agincourt...the man in the arena, whose face is covered wtih blood and sweat and dust, who strove valiantly...a great warrior...yes, even Maximus (Meridus, from the movie Gladiator)"
I received a similar message. It was much more simple, and came in my prayer time as I was in the woods:
"You are the White Knight"
I didn't need an explanation...I knew what the message meant. So I'm dedicating this blog as my personal journal of theological meditations, in honor of the name God gave me. I'm a warrior, a fighter...and eventually, a hero. Nothing on this earth or under the earth can convince me otherwise.
