ESTHER AND THE KING

There’s times when we are called to do a thing we’d rather not. It’s rather like your feet are in a great big cooking pot. The temperature is rising. You know you must get out. But it has been so comfortable your mind is still in doubt. It happened to Queen Esther; with Xerxes on the throne. She had to go and see him and do it on her own. She hadn’t been invited; And Xerxes plainly said, That anyone who just barged in could very soon be dead. It rested on his feelings and also on his mood. He may have been her husband, but if her thought her rude, The outcome could be fatal. The sceptre in his hand, Would have to be extended or she’d die by his command. Now Esther was no coward, but this was quite a chance. It had to rest on something a bit more than romance. She was a Jewish lady and popularity, Was seldom in the favour of where she had to be. So she made preparations by fasting and by prayer. Her handmaids joined the party to aid her getting there. For she was in great danger, she’d surely lose her head, If she was uninvited and blundered in instead. But what the people didn’t know was Who was on her side. I don’t think that she knew herself although she was his bride. For in those days the ladies were the property of men. And if the king was so inclined they’d kill her there and then. But she had a relationship and served the King of Kings; And she took courage from the fact, He was in charge of things. So when she walked in unannounced, she went at God’s behest, So Xerxes held the sceptre out. That’s what her hands caressed. And this is so like Jesus. He sits upon His throne, And waits for us to enter into God Almighty’s zone. He has a golden sceptre, but really it’s His cross. And those of us who reach for it will never suffer loss. Of course we may be terrified, but those who know Him best; Tell us that we needn’t, because He wants to bless, His bride each time she enters. He honours us this way; And He is so much better than the king in Esther’s day. In fact we are invited to come before His throne; But not in trepidation, for we are His alone. Jim Strickland – written Tuesday, 30 August 2011