The Greatest Gift
Reading Selection for December 18^th
“Come to the King”

Esther 4:16 (NLT) –  “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

God is not mentioned by name in the book of Esther, but can His presence be denied?  Esther was one of the last books to be accepted and approved and included in the canon of Scripture.  Many argued that to be included in God’s holy book, then a book should at least mention His name once.  Why are we always trying to make things fit?  Why do we continually look for reasons NOT to believe?

Is it really easier for us to believe that an entire nation of people were saved by coincidence than it is to believe in a Sovereign God Who rules and reigns from On High?

On page 180 Ann writes, “Esther hears the Mordecai message, and it does something to her…Esther puts herself in the place of those outside the gate and makes herself the bridge to the King.  And the woman given gifts for such a time as this—she risks her position for the people.  If I perish, I perish.”

Esther was in a particular time and place for the purposes of God.  She may have been a queen, but few would be willing to follow the path she took to get there—she had no father or mother, she was raised with relatives in exile in enemy territory, and she was kept under guard in the royal palace, and then endured the long process of the king’s selection of a new queen.  Her life was not her own.  She was not free in a physical sense, but she had a choice.

Esther decided to risk her life to go before the king.  Even as queen she was not given free access to him—she had to wait to be summoned.  Approaching the king without an invitation was an offense punishable by death.  By going to him Esther was accepting the very real possibility that she could die for her actions.

What a picture of Advent, the coming Messiah who would face death to become our bridge back to God.  She offered herself for those who had no access.  She submitted herself to possible death.  She approached the king to save her people.

The line that continued to carry forth the coming Messiah was preserved.

The Word made flesh arrived in His earth suit over four hundred years later.  And this Deliverer didn’t just spare our lives, He gave us new ones.  He didn’t just go to the King on our behalf He gave US full access to Him, too.  We no longer have to send representatives to God on our behalf, Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we can “…draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”

We no longer have to wait for God to extend favor, He already has.  We just need to receive it and live like it’s true EVERY SINGLE DAY, not just when we feel like it’s true.  We ARE the beloved of God.

And those days when we choose to live less loved?  Don’t worry, it’s still the season of Advent.  He’s still coming not just for a piece of our heart, He’s coming for all of it.