A Royal Story

When Queen Victoria was a young girl she understandably didn’t quite understand the full responsibilities of being the next in line for the throne of Great Britain.

 

The story is told of the young Victoria’s private tutors becoming frustrated as they tried to prepare her for the role of being Queen one day. These teachers were unable to motivate the young princess to concentrate on her lessons and take her studies seriously.

 

Finally, one of her teachers became so exasperated with the young girl, he sternly reprimanded her: “This is not the way the future Queen should behave!”

 

Upon hearing this, it’s reported that the young Victoria went quiet for a few moments and then said quietly “Yes. You are correct. From now on I will be good.”

 

And she was.

 

 

The realisation by a young girl that she had inherited this high calling immediately gave Victoria a sense of responsibility. This sense of duty profoundly affected her conduct for the rest of her life.

 

This royal story from two hundred years ago reminds me of the Apostle Paul writing: “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? It is because Christ died for you that you are holy.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

 

And the Apostle John had a similar realisation when he wrote: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

 

When we realise we are a son or daughter of the King of the universe that should compel us to take our earthly duties more seriously.

 

Perhaps we should respond to our calling from Christ with the same words as a young Queen Victoria: “Yes. From now on I will be good.”

 

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About this blog: Pastor David Riley is a minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and lives on the Gold Coast in Australia. This article is from his “Reverential Ramblings” series – which you can subscribe to by clicking “follow” on this website.

Want to read more inspirational stories of faith from this series? Click here to read the amazing reason one Olympic rower stopped in the middle of an important race.