Living in God's Favor - Esther 1-2 and Acts 5:1-21
The concept of favor is not something we talk about a lot these days. We tend to ask people to do us a favor, but we do not talk as much about having favor. Favor is having special treatment because someone is impressed with you or because you are pleasing to someone. God grants us His favor when we are pleasing to Him by living holy lives of service. He also grants us favor in the eyes of other people when He wants to use us to complete a task for Him. In other words, He leads them to see us in a positive light and to give us special treatment, so that they will help us do His will. It is glorious to live a life in God's favor. That is how Jesus lived. The Bible tells us in Luke 2 that He grew in favor with God and man.
Esther is a great example of living in God's favor. God knew the danger that was coming to the Jews in Persia, so He used the events surrounding the deposing of Queen Vashti to raise up Esther as the new queen. She was beautiful, and God used her physical beauty, but the main attribute which pleased God was her faithfulness to him and to her family. He knew she was the kind of person who would do what He asked her to do, so He gave her His favor. She was selected as one of the ladies to come before the king. Then, God gave her favor in the eyes of the man in charge of the ladies, and she received special treatment. Then, she received the favor of the king, and she was chosen to be the queen. I believe this was the result of God's favor on her life, not just her beauty. There are some things we could never achieve without God's favor, or without God granting us favor in the eyes of other people. Can you look back and see how God has granted you favor in your life?
The early Christians were known for their righteousness. They were holy people before God. That is seen by the story of Ananias and Sapphira. God wanted to make sure they remained holy, so He acted quickly and decisively to punish their sin. The result was that the common people esteemed the Christians highly. That is another way to say that they granted them favor. Because of this, they were more open to the Gospel, so multitudes were added to the Lord. What would have happened if they had not been favored? People would have ignored them or slandered them. That is the problem when Christians do not live a holy life today. God can't grant them favor, because they are not right with Him, and He can't grant them favor with others, because people see their hypocrisy. Therefore, people do not listen to the message of the gospel, and they do not receive Christ. This is a tragedy, which can be solved by the favor of God. I pray that all of us will seek to live lives that please God, so He can grant us His favor and do His work through us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Esther 3-5 and Acts 5:22-42.
Esther is a great example of living in God's favor. God knew the danger that was coming to the Jews in Persia, so He used the events surrounding the deposing of Queen Vashti to raise up Esther as the new queen. She was beautiful, and God used her physical beauty, but the main attribute which pleased God was her faithfulness to him and to her family. He knew she was the kind of person who would do what He asked her to do, so He gave her His favor. She was selected as one of the ladies to come before the king. Then, God gave her favor in the eyes of the man in charge of the ladies, and she received special treatment. Then, she received the favor of the king, and she was chosen to be the queen. I believe this was the result of God's favor on her life, not just her beauty. There are some things we could never achieve without God's favor, or without God granting us favor in the eyes of other people. Can you look back and see how God has granted you favor in your life?
The early Christians were known for their righteousness. They were holy people before God. That is seen by the story of Ananias and Sapphira. God wanted to make sure they remained holy, so He acted quickly and decisively to punish their sin. The result was that the common people esteemed the Christians highly. That is another way to say that they granted them favor. Because of this, they were more open to the Gospel, so multitudes were added to the Lord. What would have happened if they had not been favored? People would have ignored them or slandered them. That is the problem when Christians do not live a holy life today. God can't grant them favor, because they are not right with Him, and He can't grant them favor with others, because people see their hypocrisy. Therefore, people do not listen to the message of the gospel, and they do not receive Christ. This is a tragedy, which can be solved by the favor of God. I pray that all of us will seek to live lives that please God, so He can grant us His favor and do His work through us.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Esther 3-5 and Acts 5:22-42.