Thursday, September 24, 2009

For such a time as this

When I was a kid, I used to spend hours reading stories from the Old Testament. I loved them--all those vivid accounts of God interacting with his people; all those fascinating characters.

Esther was always one of my favorites... As a little girl, I loved to read about the beautiful woman who became a queen, and who dared to bend the rules and save her people from destruction. See, Esther started out as just another girl, but God used her to deliver an entire population from death. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

This week, we'll hear a little of Queen Esther's story, and how she was able to use her influence to stand up for a people who didn't have a voice. We're continuing our theme of laying a foundation of good, solid life lessons, and this week's is just that: to speak up for those who can't speak for themselves, even when we might catch some flak for doing so.

Our lesson from Mark gives us more solid advice about dealing with people weaker than ourselves. It's vivid--maybe even a little shocking--but sometimes we need this kind of wake-up call. We're called to be the salt of the earth... And if we don't fill that role, then who will?

3 comments:

offbeatpoet said...

I am confussed concerning the statement, to paraphrase: Mark is used to deal with individuals weaker than ourselves. To me, we are all weak in the eyes of the lord. Works do not give the individual access to the kingdom of heaven or make one better than the other. That statement implies judgement, Can you explain more detailed.

Anonymous said...

And how did Esther hide her background so well in order to lead so competently? So many questions arise about what is truly means to "follow" Him...
Fred

offbeatpoet said...

As the old saying goes: "God works in mysterious ways."

I like the story because she was raised to a position of high rank in society. She did not let her rank make her arrogant, opposite from how Pharoh's head swelled so big that he thought he was better than God, she submitted to the will of God saving her community instead of allowing them to die to get more meaningless baubles from Xerxes. Moreover, it is good to see the effects women have had in Judea Christain religion.