Topic: A Time to Celebrate [Thursday May 12, 2016]
Text: Esther 9:13-19
Key Verse: “On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness” (Esther 9:17).
As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians – and I am one of them.”
The Jews had their troubles turned into triumph. The very day they were supposed to have been wiped out, their fate was turned around by God. On that same day, they attacked and destroyed only those who were guilty of wanting or trying to destroy them. Yet, this is different from Haman’s edict? Haman sought to kill all the Jews along with Mordecai. However, unlike Haman’s decree, the Jews understood that the execution of Mordecai’s edict was governed by the rules of the ancient command of holy war against the Amalekites during the days of Saul. One of the rules was that the spoils were not to be taken. How is the timing of this feast a time of Joy and celebration for Christians? Well like Haman, the devil wants us all dead. God’s righteous decree is that all who sin deserve death and His decree cannot be overturned, but the price was paid by another.
That is our celebration, the decree of eternal death is no longer a threat to those of us in Christ, and we have been set free. We celebrate every time we take of the Lord’s Supper, proclaiming His sacrificial death, His propitiation for us and rejoice in the promise of His grace and mercy. O, how we need to discover that all that we need for time and eternity are in the Lord Jesus.
Thought for the day: Your disgrace has been reversed by His grace.
Bible Reading in one Year: 1 Corinthians 15-16
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
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