In the days that followed the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II, with the extensive media coverage of her life amid the pomp and ceremony in the days leading up to her funeral, it seemed natural to ask the question: What is the measure of a life well lived?
As you would expect, the answer depends on who you speak to.
Some may say that it is to live long or to accumulate great wealth, or perhaps to travel the world living one great adventure after the other. Others may say that it is to find and to live out your purpose, or to leave an enduring legacy.
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I think it is true to say that if we wish to live our lives well, and we have a certain picture of what that looks like, it is that picture which will guide all our decisions, big and small, whether consciously or sub-consciously, throughout our lives.
On 21 April 1947, to mark the occasion of her 21st birthday while visiting South Africa with her parents and younger sister, Princess Margaret, the young Princess Elizabeth as she was then, gave her most famous speech. An often-quoted passage from that speech says:
“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
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How true her words would prove to be. She died at 96 years of age, having reigned for more than 70 years, and having kept her promise to the British people. Through good times and bad, when the nation faced economic crises and political upheaval, through personal tragedy and loss, and even the scandals that engulfed her children and family members. She just got on with the job.
Of course, as heir to the throne, in many ways her life was already mapped out before her. But what is most remarkable, is that she chose to fully embrace her God-given position as Queen (Daniel 2:21), living out her days and fulfilling her purpose with others in mind. Almost to the very end, when just 2 days before she died, she fulfilled her final constitutional duty as monarch by inviting the new Prime Minister of Great Britain, Liz Truss to form a government.
I am reminded that as believers, we too are heirs to a mandate, the Great Commission:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”.
This is our God-given mandate here on earth, for as long as we live. How this is expressed in our lives will, of course, look different for each one of us depending on our life circumstances and the stage of life we find ourselves in.
Should we choose to embrace it, it is a mandate that will not only mark our lives as being “well lived” here on earth but will also echo for all eternity.
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