Light, Gladness, Joy and Honour

The book of Esther provides a great example of God's deliverance and the marvelous reversals only He is capable of.  The wicked Haman had signed into law of the Medes and Persians (which could not be changed) the Jews were to be slaughtered and plundered.  At the persistent urging of her cousin Mordecai, queen Esther brought the evil plot of Haman against the Jews to light before her husband and king.  Furious at this great betrayal, King Ahasuerus executed Haman, promoted Mordecai to a position of honour and power who drafted a new law which allowed the Jews to protect themselves from all adversaries.  Filled with ironic turns and unbelievable plot twists, the book of Esther puts the best Hollywood attempts to shame.

Mordecai and the people went from fasting, mourning, and wearing sackcloth because of their eminent doom to celebrating together.  Esther 8:15-17 says, "So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. ¹⁶ The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honour. ¹⁷ And in every province and city, wherever the king's command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them."  Mordecai who once sat in the dust left the presence of the king clothed in royal apparel wearing a crown of gold; people who were in the shadow of death had "light and gladness, joy and honour."  Jews who looked to the 13th day of the 12th month with fear and dread suddenly instead had a holiday with feasting and gifts.  Inhabitants of the land who were very relieved not to be Jews (seeing they were condemned to death) converted to being Jews!

I cannot read this historical account without considering how followers of Jesus Christ share a similar experience with the Jews in Esther's day.  We were condemned by our sin according to God's righteous Law, but Jesus has provided forgiveness and atonement by shedding His blood on Calvary.  All men are heading to certain death and destruction in hell forever yet through faith in Jesus have the hope of eternal life, having been adopted by God and clothed in His righteousness.  Through Jesus we too have "light and gladness, joy and honour" we do not deserve.  Because Jesus is the Bread of Life we have an everlasting feast by faith in Him and victory over our foes--even Death.  Every year the Jews celebrated Purim as a reminder of the great deliverance God had wrought for them, and the book of Esther is an awesome reminder of God's love and faithfulness to His people under the Old and now the New Covenant in Christ's blood.

Jesus is the Light of the world, and may we walk in His light with gladness.  He grants us fullness of joy and peace that passes understanding.  Though Jesus and His followers are hated by some, we have been granted unspeakable honour by His grace to be called by His name.  The Jews of Shushan rejoiced to have a man of their own Mordecai ruling rather than Haman the Agagite, and how blessed we are to be ruled by Jesus Christ rather than Satan whose skull has been crushed underfoot by the Son of God.  Isaiah 25:8-9 says what the God of Israel has done in Jesus Christ:  "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. ⁹ And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

When Life is Stale

"When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah"

Psalm 32:3-4

Reading through this Psalm this week I was prompted to see this in fresh light.  David penned this psalm considering the oppressive nature of sin:  when he refused to confess and repent of sin it gnawed at him day and night.  The picture he paints is one wasting away in pain, a dry soul groaning in distress.  A tree lacking moisture withers and dies, and the drought of summer sapped him of spiritual vitality.

There are certain foods which are delicious when moist, but when the moisture dries up they become stale and unpalatable.  Because of sin David's life became dry and stale.  It is a strange thing how the composition of baked goods changes dramatically for the worse when exposed to air for extended periods of time.  We do not need to interview David to learn more because we also have experienced besetting sins which made our lives stale:  tasteless, worn out, without novelty or power to please.  The things we used to enjoy or live for just aren't as great as they used to be.

In Psalm 1, David compared the child of God to a tree planted by rivers of water that is fruitful in season, its leaves do not wither and it prospers--quite the contrast to the dryness of summer drought.  In verse 4 David ended the line with "Selah" which means to pause and consider.  It is good for us to stop in our tracks and take personally what has been written, examining our own lives to see if we too are dry like a dessert, if ministry has become stale, if relationships are drying up.  The way we feel can be a telling indicator of our need to make personal changes to seek and honour God.

David followed up action with Psalm 32:5:  "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah."  Healthy introspection led to confession of sin and forgiveness by our gracious God.  David acknowledged his sinful deeds and also his crooked heart.  He didn't just "Selah" concerning his sin or how twisted and corrupt he was but also revelled in the forgiveness and restoration of his relationship with God.  We can spend a great deal of time wallowing in our failures rather than rejoicing in the forgiveness God delights to give.

Has life become a bit stale?  Pour out your heart to God in confession and know He hears and will answer.  In an instant God can transform a soul that resembles a barren desert into a fruitful oasis by His grace, mercy, and unfailing love.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus can bring radical transformation and renewal to your life today.

The Lovable One

What pictures does "lovable" bring to mind?  Personally I think of a cute and fuzzy plush toy, a smiling face with outstretched arms just begging to be held close.  Synonyms for "lovable" include:  endearing, engaging, attractive, adorable, lovely, sweet, cuddly, charming and pleasing.  One thing these synonyms have in common is being lovable is largely based on appearances and subjective personal opinion--not by demonstrated quality of character.  We can put a great deal of emphasis on looking lovely, but that does not mean we are lovable.

I was struck by David's exhortation in Psalm 31:23-24:  "Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. ²⁴ Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD."  Forget the fluffy teddy bear with the embroidered smile:  God is the most lovable being of all!  God is worthy of all love as He is absolutely loving, though He is not in the least bit "cute" or "cuddly."  He has demonstrated His love for us sinners, not with chocolate or fluffy keepsakes, but by dying on the cross for our redemption and salvation.  He preserves the faithful, provides courage, and strengthens our hearts as we hope in Him.

The lovable plush toy or pet that loves attention cannot meet the needs of our souls.  1 John 4:19 says of God, "We love Him because He first loved us."  When a person goes to the pet shop or breeder to purchase a cute, lovable puppy or kitten, that animal was loved and chosen before it could respond to love and attention.  To a domesticated animal the buyer was just one of many people who stopped by and watched it play, but after becoming an owner and caretaker a relationship began.  God has done a similar thing for people, having loved each human being before we were conceived and individually fashioned by Him in the womb of our mothers.  Isn't God lovable for His goodness towards us, to create us by grace and pursue a relationship with us?

Jesus Christ said to His disciples in John 15:12-17:  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another."  We did not choose God, but He chose us; we love Him because He first loved us.  Because He loves us we ought to love Him and one another, and consequently He makes us more lovable ourselves.

Confessing One to Another (and praying too!)

Today a visit to the bathroom turned out to provide an unexpected object lesson.  We have an intermittent leaky tap in our bathroom which is the ultimate "jiggle the handle" experience.  If you have the technique and strength, it works ok.  But because the maintenance man didn't match the new handles with the old-style brass fitting it has always been difficult to keep from dripping.  So we have developed a workaround:  if the tap drips a cup is placed underneath to catch the water to prevent wasting it.  Then when I come in to wash my hands, I crank that puppy down--much to Laura's dismay.

As I watched the water slowly form under the tap and drip into the cup, I mused how pointless it would be to try to keep the tap from dripping with a finger.  Attempts to keep the water from dripping by hand pressure or placement of a cup underneath does not address the internal problem with the tap.  It needs to be pulled apart and fitted with a new plunger, O-Ring, and grease for smooth function (with compatible knobs of course!).  The dripping really isn't the problem, but is a symptom of a hidden internal problem.  We can be quite similar to the dripping tap because losing our temper, worrying, lying, or cheating are only symptoms of a heart problem which can result from our neglect of confession and repentance.

In Christian circles confession of specific sins to others on a regular basis is a seldom practiced spiritual discipline--at least speaking for myself.  That is set to change for me personally on the basis of what the LORD has been teaching me lately, for who does not sin (1 John 1:10)?  In addition to the biblical directive in James 5:16, I came across something J. Edwin Orr wrote in his book Full Surrender which impacted me:

"It costs nothing for a church member to admit in a prayer meeting, "I am not what I ought to be."  It costs no more to say:  "I ought to be a better Christian."  It costs something to say:  "I have been a trouble-maker in this church."  It costs something to say:  "I have had bitterness of heart towards certain leaders, to whom I shall definitely apologise."  While it is true that human hearts possess attributes towards sin which can be described as general, all acts of sin are particular and should be confessed in a particular way.  A sinner might be overwhelmed by so many specific convictions of sin that he does not know where to begin.  He should begin with his besetting sin, about which he will feel most conviction.  The exhortation to confess our sins is clearly progressive:  "If we keep on confessing our sins." (Orr, J. Edwin. Full Surrender. Marshall, Morgan, & Scott. 1951. pages 28-29.)

Though all sin is against God, we also sin against people.  Since this is the case, when guilt of sin comes to our attention we ought to confess our sin to the one we have wronged as the Prodigal did to his father:  "I have sinned against heaven and against you."  Orr put forth a maxim concerning confession in Full Surrender to let the "circle of the offence committed be the circle of the confession."  The unity and healthy fellowship of Christians can be severely hampered by pride and our (my!) refusal to confess sins to one another as James prescribed coupled with prayer for each other.  Joshua exhorted Achan to publicly confess what impacted the nation; Job prayed for his erring friends and they were healed.  We cannot keep short accounts with God if our ledger is bleeding red with sins against our brothers and sisters and we have neglected our responsibility to confess.  It is good for us to keep from sin, but if our primary motivation to avoid it is the fear of confessing to our brothers our hearts are not right before God.  Praise the LORD He is forgives, cleanses, restores, and even redeems our sin for His ultimately glory and our good.