Thursday, March 11, 2010

For such a time as this

Raised by her cousin and drafted into a national beauty pageant a young Jewish girl was chosen to be queen. Warned by her cousin to not disclose her heritage, Esther had access to all the money, luxuries and status one can only dream of. However, when the lives of her people are threatened, Esther is reminded by her cousin that if she doesn't speak up for her people, that her life will not be spared, though God would send deliverance through someone else. He then challenged her saying: "who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"
In the end, Esther risks her life by coming before the king and then pleading for the lives of her people--which are spared.

There are so many character lessons in this story. The one I cannot get out of my head is this:
We are blessed. We also have the choice every day to build up our own "kingdoms", or to use our blessings to benefit our people.
I fail...every day. But this is something I am so convicted by.

Even if Esther had said no, maybe she didn't want to be sentenced to death by her husband--the king. Maybe she was afraid of the humiliation, or lacked the courage to speak up. Or maybe she could just pretend she though someone else would do something. But had she not done anything, and had God spared her life, she still would have had to live with that regret her whole life.

Soo...that's my 2 cents.

I highly encourage you to read the book of Esther (it's in the Old Testament of the Bible--between Nehemiah and Job). You will learn a lot. I promise.

Here's a video with a pretty song: