As I watched King Charles III pay tribute to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on what would been her one hundredth birthday, my heart and mind returned to those never to be forgotten days when we mourned her passing. Most of us had never met our late Queen yet she was like a friend, a figure representing inspiration, perseverance and devotion throughout all of our lives. Today with a lump in our throats and tears in our eyes we think about what we have lost with her passing. 😢

Yet we thank God for the gift of her life of service. 🙏 I will never forget that lonely figure, observing the COVID lockdown restrictions as she bade her final farewell to her beloved Prince Philip after seventy-four years of marriage. She was a servant to the last.

Her Christian faith was such a vital element of her reign, for which we are grateful. ✝️ She understood the values which lie at heart of our national story.

On hearing the news of her father’s passing while on a visit to Kenya, the young Queen pledged herself not only to her nation but to her God requesting prayer:

𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍…𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.

Much later as her long reign neared a close she pointed her subjects to the One whom she served:

𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 (𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆) 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒓, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆.

For her ninetieth birthday the Bible Society published a book, endorsed by Her Majesty with a Foreword, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬. 📖 She served well and diligently.

But even the longest of lives must come to an end. ⏳ Kings and Queens, and the rich and powerful, are not immune to death. She has gone to be with God. One day, so shall we all.

What about you today?

Our lives too shall end. We too are called to serve the King of Kings, the Saviour of the world. Are you prepared for your final journey?

Death is certain for us all, but through Christ there is hope beyond the grave. The Queen knew whom she served. The question for each of us is this: do we?