I'm sure you have all heard the story if Esther. And I encourage you to read it if you haven't already. But let's take a look at the story of Esther. First, she was taken from her home, and then made queen. That's kind of awesome don't you think? I mean yeah, marrying someone you've never met before might be kind of scary. And that's an under exaggeration, but it would still be kinda cool. But then we read on and we see that she was forced to make an important decision for her people. As we read on, we see that Esther finds out about a law that said that on a certain day saying that all the Jews would be killed. And in case you don't remember, Esther was a Jew. But only Mordecai knew about it because he told her to keep it a secret.
In Esther 4:14, Mordecai tells Esther that if she doesn't say anything to King Ahasuerus, then her people might die. It says, "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Mordecai is telling Esther that it is her responsibility as queen to save her people. So in verse 16 she tells Mordecai that if he goes and tells his people to fast, and she and her people will fast, then in three days she will carry out her plan. Even though she was probably scared, she was willing to give her life for her people.
In Esther 5:4 it says, "And Esther said, "If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today for a feast that I have prepared for the king." Esther wasn't just going to halfheartedly going to go up to the king and say, "Hey, so, there's this law that says that my people are all going to be killed on this certain day, and I was just kinda wondering if you could put an end to that. Uh, I think that's all. I'm going to go now. Bye!" She came up with a plan, and set out to make it happen.
In chapter 7 we read that Esther's plan worked. The king saw what was going on, and tried his best to put an end to it. If Esther hadn't used her situation and the advantages she was given in life, then she would have failed. If she hadn't tried to save her people, then they might not have been saved. Tomorrow I will be talking about how that can apply to us, and how we need to learn how to use our gifts and talents to save our people. Thank you for reading. :)
