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The Queen
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Hugh Stowell records the following regarding the last hours of Queen Elizabeth I:
In her last illness, after a season of profound despondency … she made signs for the Archbishop of Canterbury and her chaplain to come near to her, whereupon, we are told, the cardinal said to her, “Madame, you ought to hope much in the mercy of God. Your piety, your zeal, and the admirable work of the Reformation, which you have happily established, afford great grounds of consolation for you.”
“My lord,” replied the queen, “the crown which I have borne so long has given enough of vanity in my time. I beseech you not to praise it in this hour, when I am so near my death!”
Here was one who had rejoiced in holding one of the most exalted positions in Europe, surrounded by flatterers innumerable, both civil and religious, yet in view of another world she saw it all as emptiness and vanity. What are you trusting in … is it Christ and His work on the cross?
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