May 7th

May 7th -- Esther 6-7 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Esther%206-7&version=NLT)

The king honors Mordecai ; The king executes Haman

That night (after Haman has decided to kill Mordecai) the king can't sleep, so he has his attendant read him the book of his reign's history. In this book was recorded how Mordecai exposed the plot of two of his servants to kill him. He asked what Mordecai received as reward or recognition for this, and was informed nothing had been done. The king asks who is in the outer court, and upon hearing it is Haman (who had come to ask the king to impale Mordecai), he summons him. The king asks what he should do to honor someone who pleases him. Haman assumes the king means him, and tells him he should do this: bring out the king's royal robes, and a horse he has ridden with a royal emblem, let these be handed to one of the king's most noble officials, who will see that the man the king wants honored is dressed in the robes and led through the city on the horse. As they ride, the official should shout "This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!" The king says this is excellent, then tells Haman to ensure all that is done - no details missing - for Mordecai. Haman did so, but as Mordecai returned to the palace gate after, Haman went home humiliated and dejected. When Haman tells his wife and advisors of this, they tell him because Mordecai is a Jew, opposing him will lead to his own death. As they were still talking, the king's men arrived to take Haman to Esther's banquet.

So Haman and the king go to Esther's banquet. The king then of course asks Esther yet again what she wants, reminding her he will give her half the kingdom if that is what she asks. Esther then asks that the lives of her and her people be spared, as her people have been sold to those who would wipe them out. She said she would not have said anything if they had been mere slaves, as that is not such an important deal. The king then demands to know who would possibly touch her. She tells him Haman, explaining he is their enemy. Haman becomes frightened and the king, angry, goes out to the garden. Haman pleads with Esther for his life, falling, in despair, onto a couch where Esther was reclined just as the king returned. The king was shocked, bewildered Haman would seemingly assault Esther right there in front of the king. His attendants, as he spoke, covered Haman's face, which signaled his doom. One of the king's attendants then tells the king that Haman had a 75-foot pole set up which he had planned to impale Mordecai on. The king ordered Haman be impaled on it, and he was, and the king became less angry after that.

I would say this contains two important lessons. One is to never act out of pride. Haman pridefully assumed that the king wanted to honor him. So, he came  up with these big, elaborate plans to esteem himself. In the end, the king wanted to honor Mordecai, not Haman. We need to be humble. The world does not revolve around us, as much as we act, at times, like it does. When we assume things are all about us, we may end up like Haman - finding ourselves set beneath others. God doesn't want us to be prideful, so when we lift ourselves too high, He may just knock us back down a bit for it. He doesn't want our ego to become so big it's all we know.
The second lesson would be that in a way, really all you do comes back to you. Not karma. Try Galatians 6:7-8: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." Haman reaped out of pride and hatred, and the seeds he sowed brought death. What do we sow? Do we sow seeds of God's love, or do we sow seeds of hatred? Seeds of God's truth, or those of lies? Seeds of God's greatness, or our own pride? Think on it. We make thousands if not millions of huge to tiny choices every day. Whenever we do, we plant one seed instead of another - so what seeds have you been planting? Ones that will reap destruction or ones that will reap eternal life? I know what I'd rather harvest when the time comes. So you really do need to be conscious of what you do, because as much as we know 'karma' isn't real, we know that reaping what you sow is.

That's all for today! God bless! Shalom!