Initially, Esther fears for her life if she goes in to the
king without being summoned. She is
concerned about what will happen to her, not what will happen to the
nation. Self-preservation is usually our
first response isn't it? Mordecai, however,
has faith in the outcome of this event.
"if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise
for the Jews from another place."
He warns Esther that she won't be safe in the palace if she fails to
act. She might be safe from the king but
if she takes no action, she and her father's house will indeed perish. The Lord is requiring this of her, He has
raised her up for this very hour. Do we
see our lives and our positions as the Lord's doing? Whatever that place is, the Lord wants you
right where you are but not simply for yourself, for Him and His people. If you have a job, He gave it to you. All that you have is from Him and if you
withhold from Him the tithe you, like Esther intended to do, are failing to
identify with Him and His people and His mission. You are taking a greater risk than you have
considered by playing it safe. We live
in an incredibly individualistic society, self-centeredness and self-preservation
are the ways of the world, we are meant to be different.
John the Baptist takes the risk of proclaiming the kingdom
and the King, are coming. He risks the
disapprobation of the leadership in his words and his actions but his role is
to prepare a people for that coming.
They need to be prepared to receive the king whom John believes is
coming in judgment. It is his desire
that no one may suffer in that judgment.
Is that your desire as well? Are
you willing to risk anything to share the Gospel? The church today needs to have the urgency of
John the Baptist. The church of every
day needs to have that urgency. We don't
know when the Lord is coming but we know He is coming in judgment and which of
us wants to face Him having failed to warn those we love? Not only is this preparation a matter of
belief, it is also a matter of ethics and living. People knew that heeding this call required
them to do something different, to change, and John says get out of
self-preservation mode, if you have two tunics, give one to someone who has
none, don't get greedy, collect only the amount authorized, be content with
your wages, live simply.
Priscilla and Aquila, Titius Justus and Crispus all take
personal risks to welcome and support Paul and the ministry of preaching the
Gospel and teaching. All these people
could have been secret believers but they welcomed Paul into their homes and
allowed him to preach in spite of the opposition he received. We are told that Titius Justus lived next to
the synagogue and Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue. These men lost whatever position and prestige
they had in the Jewish community in order to align themselves with Paul's
message concerning Jesus. The call to
discipleship is a costly thing and we have made it something else. The world is changing around us and we will
soon recognize that the call is costly.
Are we prepared for that day?
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