But why would those knights serve Arthur?. They could serve their king because of the pay, the position it would put his children in, the fun parties, the celebrity status, the power over people associated with the position, family traditions, or a variety of other selfish reasons. There are many ways that a king could use to get knights to serve him. But none of those options would really stick except for the one of family tradition. If you are only serving the king because of some selfish reason, another king could come along and offer more pay, offer higher societal positions for the knight's children, bigger parties, a higher seat at the table, or more power.
So what is a king to do if he wants a knight that is truly loyal?
He would have to offer a vision of the way he wants to shape the world that would cause the knight to put aside his dreams for himself. The knight, the kind a king would want, would put aside all his selfish ambitions to help the king bring about his plan for the world. He would become invested in that dream just as much as the king.
He offers us the opportunity to join with him in making our houses and our neighborhoods align with his better vision. All he asks is that we buy into his vision of the world. We need to put on the breastplate of faith and love and wear the helmet of the hope of salvation (1 Thes 5:8). To bring about that vision, we need to put aside all of our selfish ambitions, surrender our hearts and desires to God, and begin to work on shaping the world into the world he planned for it to be. Anything else is just serving for the wrong reasons.
God is different than an earthly king who can be tricked by false actions of fealty. An earthly king can be deceived by outward appearances, posturing, and traditions. God cannot. He can see straight into our hearts and see if it is really His.
Let's surrender our hearts to him for his vision is great and grand, far better than what we can dream without Him.
