Listening to the BBC introduce the National Service of Thanksgiving for the 60 year reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, caused me to reflect on some aspect of our Christian life. As the reporters spoke they mentioned the Queens faithfulness to her early promises,her love of the people and the significance of the anointing at her coronation. Apparently at the time of her anointing she felt commissioned God to serve the British people.

The Queen made her initial promise to serve the British people when she was a princess, she was aware that she was the child of a king and heir to the throne this shaped her thinking. We are co-heirs with Christ, the King of Kings, and children of God the Father, this bestows upon us a dignity greater than any earthly monarch can bestow. We need to let this sense of being Children of God and co-heirs with Christ permeate our whole being.

Faithfulness: Our faithfulness just like the Queen’s springs from our sense of calling,knowing that we have a destiny to fulfill. The knowledge that our Heavenly Father has called us to be his children emphasizes the relationship we have the Lord, it also shows us that our Father wants us to be Christlike and bear his image. We are saved and given gifts to use for a purpose, that of glorifying God. when we serve God in the power of the Holy Spirit we will find we are living a fulfilled life. a life which is significant and wil count in God’s eternal plan. It is therefore good to be in a faithful committed relationship with our God. We are called to live Holy lives, serving the purpose of the King of Kings all of our days.

Love: The Queen has shown a love to her subjects but we have been shown a greater love by the eternal God. God has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, he has chosen us before the foundation of the world. We love him because he first loved us. His love is shown to us most clearly by the amazing life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His intention is that as we receive his love, we too will show love to others. We are to look at the example of Jesus and of the early Church and we will soon see that love is the mark of the Christian.
Love for the Lord and others is shown clearly in British history by the examples of William Wilberforce and Lord Shaftesbury, they lead two important movements of social reform that changed Britain forever. It is not however just the famous that demonstrate this but rather as we look at the church we can see countless individuals who display the love of Christ.

The Anointing: When the Queen was anointed at her coronation, it is said that she felt commissioned by God to serve her people. When we became Christians we received the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit who anoints us for service. We have the resources of heaven granted to us as we follow the Lord’s calling upon our lives. To enable us to serve him the Lord grants to us the spiritual gifts that we need for the life he wants us to lead. The Apostle Peter tells us,

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 because his divine power has bestowed on us all things that are necessary for life and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence of character, ( 2 Peter 1:2-3 italic added.)

We cannot want more than this, everything needful is given to us, this is an amazing statement but it is true.

Conclusion:  As children of the heavenly King we are called to live lives that are faithful to God and his calling upon our lives. We are called to live lives of love towards our fellow human beings, but we are also called to love our Great and Gracious God. Our heavenly Father has anointed us with the Holy Spirit so that we might be equipped to live for his glory..