Esther 2:19-23 — Kindness without Rewards
READ THIS: Esther 2:19-23
19 When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. 20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. 21 During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. 22 But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. 23 And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.
WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?
This story is wild! Mordecai, who worked for King Xerxes, hears about a plot to assassinate him. Think about this… Xerxes was not a good dude by any means. He was selfish, he mistreated many people, and did not believe in the God of Esther or Mordecai. Many nobles would have heard a plot like this and probably sided with the two officers plotting to do it, thinking they’d be able to move up in rank or even become a ruler themselves, but Mordecai chooses to do what is right! He immediately relays the information to Esther and saves Xerxes’s life, and the two officials who tried to assassinate the king were ultimately killed. What’s even crazier is that, at this point, Mordecai isn’t even rewarded for saving his life!
A lot of times, we may find ourselves in similar positions to Mordecai… not because we will hear news of assassination attempts, but because we may look at someone that we see as a “bad” person and hear that they are going through hard things. It can be easy for us to look at them and think that they are simply getting what they deserve, but Jesus teaches something vastly different. Jesus teaches that we should love for our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Mordecai modeled Christ’s love perfectly here!
THINK ABOUT IT:
1. Why do you think we like to place ourselves in positions to judge others as good or bad people? Who is truly the only good person?
2. When you do something good and don’t end up receiving credit or a reward for it, how do you typically act? Why is it hard to do good things for others without expecting anything in return?
TRY THIS:
Today, your job is to go out of your way to do something kind for someone else BUT to ask for nothing in return! Often times, the best rewards God gives us come when we do things with zero expectations of what we will receive.
SONG OF THE WEEK:
Esther 4:14 — For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Comments
Post a Comment