Stripped of
All Honor
What a feeling of pride
and accomplishment Fred Goodwin must have felt when he was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth for “his service in banking, transforming the Royal Bank of Scotland
into a profitable international player.”
Friends and workers
began to call him “Sir Fred,” and his pension increased in accordance with his
position. But then things changed for
the 53 year old knight. He made some “risky
deals” that produced one of the worst recessions since World War II. The bank only survived after a $71 billion
dollar bailout was made by United Kingdom tax payers. Sir Fred was stripped of his knighthood,
losing much of his annual pension, as well.
In the book of Judges we
read of another stripping incident.
Samson had judged Israel for 20 years (Judges 16:31). But his reckless living finally caught up
with him. He was captured by the
Philistines, imprisoned, where they “put out his eyes,” stripping him of all
power and popularity. God in His
goodness finally allowed Samson to conquer one last time (Judges 16:30).
As Christians, you and I
have also been given an honorable title: Child of God. We did nothing to earn or deserve it, and for that reason we can do nothing to have it stripped
away. Jesus said, “I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand” (John 10:28). What God’s Son
has given us, no one can take away. “The
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).
There’s no chance of
anyone stripping that from us. Aren’t
you glad?
—Ruth Jay
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