What I'm Reading...

At the beginning of this week I read the book of Esther as part of my daily devotions. 
The tale of Esther, Mordechai, Haman and King Ahasarius, who my colleague Mike Wollman once dubbed King Aha in a week of Vacation Bible School where we were studying Esther ---

 is actually a great story to be reading around Mother’s day –

even though there are no ‘mother’ characters in the book of Esther. In fact, God isn’t even mentioned directly in the story.

What is apparent, even central in the story of Esther is that love makes a difference…love, in fact, conquers all.

This is a story of a man, Haman, who hates… and a woman, Esther, who is willing to risk her own life to show that love can conquer hatred. Esther is placed in a position where she can make a difference in one man’s life – and in the lives of the Jewish people as well.

Haman wants to control the Jewish people – who refuse to bow to anyone except God alone.

Haman gets King Aha, who trusts his chief Aide, to agree that all the Jewish people in his Provinces should be destroyed since Mordechai – Queen Esther’s uncle, would not honor Haman by bowing to him as the King had commanded.

All that is said in the story in this regard is that Mordechai would not bow because he was Jewish. We know that as a faithful Jew he would not honor any other as god. Jews only honor and revere God, and God alone.

And Esther who has won the favor of the King – another way to say the king loved her – is offered the opportunity to beg for her life and the life of her people. Her husband, the King chooses love over hatred, and has Haman hanged on a scaffold of his own making.

We are created to live in this world, yet we are not of this world. We are to respect those in authority but never show them or the world more honor than we show our Lord and maker.

For whom and for what cause are you willing to risk your life? If your ‘kind’ is being attacked will you just stand by or will you stand up and say something?