Chosen With Esther: 7 Days Of PurposeSample

Soon after Esther is chosen to be queen, a plot against the king erupts.

The text is brief, so we never know what caused the king’s officers to conspire against Xerxes, or what their plan actually was. All we do know is that before they could take any action, Mordecai foils their plan by telling Esther, and having her tell the king. 

The king acts immediately and executes the two traitors. Xerxes is indebted to Mordecai. It was common for Persian kings to have celebrations for their “benefactors.” The fact that Mordecai was not rewarded right away should leave us curious. But this plays a vital role in the events to come. 

In the background of this foiled plot, we are reminded that Esther has continued to keep her Jewish identity hidden. Mordecai helped her get this far, and hopefully his wisdom will continue to keep his cousin safe.

The idea I want us to dive deeper into is that of Mordecai’s delayed reward.

One of the most popular, modern Christian beliefs is that of reaping and sowing: what you put into something, is ultimately what you get out of it. Now, this is definitely a Biblical principle, since we can find good examples of it all across Scripture. But if you think sowing and reaping is the heart of Christianity, you are missing something so much more extraordinary.

You see, the Gospel is all about what was undeserved. Humans did not deserve a Savior. Jesus did not deserve to die. Yet this gift, this costly reward, is what has been offered to us freely. We do not have to work for it. There is no sowing and reaping our salvation. There is only grace.

When you read the stories of Esther and Mordecai, and learn about how they saved their people from destruction, please do not think that they earned the right to do so. In reality, it was all God’s generous grace.

Grace allowed Mordecai to hear about the conspiracy. Grace is what moved Esther into the position where she could warn the king. And the king’s delay in rewarding Mordecai was an act of grace, so that a bigger grace could be shown to all the Jewish people.

God’s grace is always at work in our lives, because we could never deserve all He has planned for us.

Takeaway: We can neither earn God’s grace, nor imagine where it will take us.

Prayer: Jesus, You shower me with grace every single day. Lead me to live out this undeserved kindness well.