To Be or Not to Be

The first photo you see here is Princess Elizabeth as she was when I was at school.

Actually, she is 7 years older than I am and this photo of her was taken during the 2^nd World war when she was a teenager and being “home schooled” in England. Her father King George the 6^th was on the throne of England at that time. Elizabeth became Heir to the throne because her uncle (the Duke of Windsor) abdicated his right to it and her father had therefore become King.

Elizabeth married Phillip Mountbatten and became Queen much sooner than she expected because her father died suddenly whilst she and Phillip were visiting South

Africa.  In 1954 the young Queen and her husband; (now the Duke of Edinburgh), visited Australia and as a soldier I had the privilege of being one of their Guard of Honour as they toured Sydney in an open car.                   For ceremonial purposes I carried a rifle with bayonet attached. But we carried no bullets because in those days Australians were Christians, and Christianity is all about love and kindness so there was no thought that any harm could possibly come to our Queen, and it didn’t.

 Queen Elizabeth is elderly now and has been a very sincere Monarch, much respected by most people, and both she and her husband have been good examples as husband and wife. When the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury placed the crown on the

Queen’s head he gave her to understand that if Jesus returned during her reign it was rightfully His. So you see the queen’s royalty is looked on by the Church of England as a type of “caretaker position” and even if Jesus does not come back in her lifetime her special royal status will end when she dies as it is a “man- made appointment,” and normally her son would take over. Some people would say “It must be good to be royalty, with everything laid out for you.” Certainly it would have its advantages, but there are a lot of responsibilities and limitations too, e.g. the Duke of Windsor had to turn down the top position so he could marry a Mrs Simpson, a divorced woman (which a King was not permitted to do then). But that was his choice.

 Interestingly, you and I were born to live as part of God’s Kingdom of Heaven family. Did you realise that?  You see, our Heavenly Father is ruler of that Kingdom, but sin has divorced us from Him. However, our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He made arrangements for us to be forgiven and reinstated as His Children, “and if Children, then heirs of God and joint Heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:14-17) and bear in mind that Jesus Christ is described as “The King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (1 Timothy 6: 15). Which implies an interesting relationship for us. Doesn’t it? If we become joint heirs with Him.

The question that arises from our consideration of the above is simply this: Did you know that you are eligible for reinstatement as a Child of God? If so, have you asked God in prayer for your reinstatement? The only alternate option is for us to live a few years here ignoring God, doing as we please, abdicating our right to Heaven, and then spend eternity in Hell?  Of course, we are free to make that “choice” if we like, just as the Duke of Windsor chose not to be King of England. However, the choice we do make is much more important than the choice he made, isn’t it?  Because (on the surface) his choice only affected his earthly life, whilst the choice we have to make affects our Spiritual life now and forever. (and “forever” is a very long time, no matter how you look at it).

To become eligible, we need to “repent”, as the bible puts it, which means a change of heart and direction, but in the light of what Jesus did on our behalf that is not too much to ask. Romans 12:1 says “It is our Reasonable service”. After all, He did suffer a dreadful death by substituting himself for you and me, He is the sinless Son of God and died so our sin would be forgiven (we owed a debt we couldn’t pay so He paid our debt that He didn’t owe) in order that you and I could be reinstated as Children of God and be freed from the consequences of our sin, and regain our “Passport to Heaven”. Now that is Love!

This necessitates believing in Jesus and asking God in prayer for the forgiveness Jesus earned on our behalf. We also need to examine the way we live, and may have to change the company we keep, as well as change the way we think and behave. If we are not sure what that entails, then we need to read the New Testament and find out. Please do check this out, (if you haven’t already done so), because It is the most important thing you will ever have to decide and it won’t go away, because in the end we all have to “stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ, and give an account”. (Romans 14:10).       Regards, Tom.