My favorite moment of Bible study last week, however, came when I asked the girls what attitude or attribute they saw in Esther that they wanted to try and apply in their lives the next day. One of the girls replied, "Excellence..." And then she went on to explain what she meant~ Esther was the queen, which obviously gave her some advantages that an average person would not have had. Yet she fall back on her position and those advantages. She didn't fast and pray for a single day... she did for three and asked others to join her. She didn't just wear any old clothes when she approached her husband, the King... the dressed in and looked her very best. She didn't just blurt out her complaint to the King... she offered to prepare a banquet (not just a meal) and lavishly serve him, first... which she then she did all over again, a second time.
Reflecting on this thought has led me to ponder, "What might happen if I chose to approach all that I do, from changing diapers, washing dishes and hanging laundry to writing/translating radio scripts, teaching Bible studies and leading French School Committee meetings..., committed to scrupulous excellence - not for man's reward or praise, but out of a desire to serve, so that God receives the praise and all reward? "
Nothing revolutionary or new here... but a good reminder that I need right now... as the thermometer rises, my to do list is grows and the time remaining to accomplish several goals shrinks. What a great flesh and blood example of the following Biblical principles: "Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Cor 16.14), and "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10.31-32).
I appreciated this post--for some time now I have longed to be the type of mother that Daniel, Shaddrach, Meshach and Abendago had...the type of mother that perhaps Esther had ...the type of mother whose children have heard/seen enough of God that if their parents are removed from their lives at a young age and they face the unfathomable...they will know enough of God that they will have the faith and courage to love Him. Isn't is good to know that God is big enough that He could meet their need and use them ... whether we are in the picture or not.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading through Esther with Sunni lately...and we've been trying to squeeze in a brief lesson from her life between hair combing and hopping on the bus each morning...what you shared will certainly be something I incorporate in our talks.