| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Living by faith” Our Bible verse for today: “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16 (CSB) Our thought for today: “We don’t have the luxury of doing nothing” Queen Esther was a beautiful young Hebrew woman who had been forced into an unwanted marriage with the king. No one, not even the king, knew she was a Jew. But then, Haman, the evil aide to the king, conspired to have all the Jews in the empire killed. It was to be a mass extermination, a holocaust. It was brought to Esther’s attention and it was clear she needed to act on behalf of her people. The problem was twofold. First, it was against the law for anyone, even the queen, to come into the king’s presence without first having been summoned by him. The penalty was immediate death. Second, since Esther herself was a secret Jew, and therefore part of the group that had been marked for mass extermination, by identifying herself as such she was putting her own life in jeopardy. Apparently, in order to make the king sympathetic to the plight of the Jews, it would be necessary for him to understand that his own queen was one of them. So, Esther ordered that the people of God (the Jews) come together for prayer, fasting, and mutual encouragement, and then she would take the action necessary. It was a bold and risky plan fraught with danger. But in faith, and with great courage, Esther did what needed to be done. For thousands of years since then the people of God (Jews and Christians alike), have been inspired by Esther’s example of faith and courage. We have often used her example as the inspiration we needed to face our own difficult and dangerous situations when it would be much easier to be quiet and do nothing. Esther could have stayed quiet – safe and secure in her position as queen and as a secret Jew. But doing so would have been a horrible wrong. The situation was such that she needed to act. She didn’t have the luxury of doing nothing. And neither do we. The days we live in are evil, and they’re getting progressively worse. We don’t have the luxury of doing nothing. We cannot hunker down behind the walls of our little religious forts (church buildings) and shut out the world. We have to be active in the world for the cause of Christ – and even more so as the evil increases and the times become more desperate. Living by faith means doing the hard stuff. It means doing something when it would be easier (and safer) to do nothing. We simply do not have the luxury of doing nothing any longer. God bless, Pastor Jim |
| Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. |
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Oak Hill Baptist Church 