Flying the Royal Standard

I recently visited London and called at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately I was not numbered among the great and the good invited to one of Her Majesty's garden parties. Instead, I was merely a tourist peering in through the gates. Visitors to royal palaces can usually determine whether the monarch is in residence by considering the flag pole. If it flies the Union Flag, the emblem of our nation, she is not present. When she is at home, she flies her own personal flag, called the Royal Standard (see below).

Buckingham Palace was flying the Union Flag when I visited. The Queen must have been at Balmoral or Windsor. So although it was still a grand building and had the word 'palace' in its name, its special resident which gives the building its special status, was absent.

At Sunday School, I remember singing the following song:

There is a flag flying high
from the castle of my heart,
from the castle of my heart,
from the castle of my heart.
There is a flag flying high
from the castle of my heart
for the King is in residence there.

So let it fly in the sky,
let the whole world know,
let the whole world know,
let the whole world know.
So let it fly in the sky,
let the whole world know
that the King is in residence there.

As a human being, you're beautifully constructed, and somehow resemble the Creator-God who made you. But without His royal residency and presence within, you're an empty vessel, a palace without a Sovereign. Christ wants you to be His home not a hollow shell.

In Revelation 3, the Lord Jesus says:

'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me'.

SECOND IMAGE: By Own work - This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: Royal Banner of England.svg.  This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: Royal Banner of Scotland (1-2).svg.  This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this file: Blue winged-maiden harp flag.svg., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3952961