KING AND QUEEN FOR A DAY
Esther 6:6b What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?
One night King Xerxes was having a hard time getting to sleep, so he called for someone to read to him the chronicles that recorded his reign. As it was read he discovered that Mordecai had never been rewarded for saving his life when two of the king’s officers conspired to assassinate him. So King Xerxes had Haman tell him an appropriate way to honor such a person. Haman said that he should be treated as a king for one day. That person was to wear the royal robe that the king had worn, rode one of the king’s horses with a royal crest on its head and led through the city streets. Little did Haman know that the king was wanting to do this for Mordecai. Haman thought that the king intended to give him that great honor. So instead of Haman, Mordecai got to be king for a day.
When I was young, a long, long,long time ago, there was a TV program called Queen for a Day. It was very popular and ran from 1956 to 1964. There were few government programs back then to help needy people out, and the United States was just getting back on its feet following World War II. Each week four ladies were picked to come before the studio audience, and tell them why they should be treated as queen for a day. After all four had done this the audience would vote for the one they felt deserved it the most. As the United States became more prosperous, the show ran its course and was canceled. I am sure it wasn’t because there were no more deserving ladies that were in need, but rather the middle class and the upper class didn’t care to look back to where they had just come from.
As with many today prosterity has deadened the conscious for the hurting and needy. With the huge increase of the wealthy and the dwindling of the middle class, even among national Christian religious leaders there is the cry to let them get a job and work like everyone else. They cry Socialism is destroying our wonderful country! They see the Nation's Affordable Health Care Program as only something that takes money out of the pockets of those that can afford their own healthcare,so they can have money for their four bedroom, three bath, air conditioned, three car garage for their cars, boats and jet ski. If they can’t take their vacation when the time is right, they just buy a vacation home in some other country. Greed has entrenched itself well in the United States and other parts of the world. Why have king for a day, when at night we turn on TV see how the rich and famous pour champagne on their telephones and flaunt their multi-billion dollar bank accounts! Well, for all those worldly personalities and religious personalities that look down on the needy I say, “What would Jesus do?”
Being king is not always good, even if they said it in the movies. Matthew 19:24 say, “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’” You see it is not money, wealth or possessions that keep us from getting into heaven. The problem is when the possessions begin to possess us,and take the place of Jesus being Lord of our life. This is why the rich young man did not follow Jesus. He was wealthy and it meant more to him than Jesus. Talking like a Christian, or being a nationally known religious leader is not the defining mark of a Christian, it is what is in their heart. The heart can be very revealing to what is in the soul! Some talk of political correctness and the curse and mistrust of it. I believe that talking spiritual correctness without the evidence of it in the heart is even worse! What must Jesus think of many in the Christian faith that seem to enjoy pointing fingers more than reaching out with helping hands to lift others up? Mordecai’s being king for a day lasted for one day. Our being the Bride of Christ and Queen to the King of kings is meant to last for all eternity, beginning when we asked Jesus to forgive us of our sins and to come into our heart. As the Bride of Christ let’s practice what we see in Jesus, so others will want to love him as we do. It is a great honor to be a Christian, but with this also comes an obligation. Let’s see how many kings and queens for a day we can make today!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we owe you so much. Please help us to never come to the point when we see someone that is too low that we can’t stoop down to try and help up! We ask this in your name.
