The Festival of Queen Esther starts today.  Esther was a simple girl.  But she caught the eye of a king.  In history, he was called Xerxes.  The king married her not realizing she was a Jew.

The king’s closest advisor, Haman, wanted all the Jews to be exterminated.  So he tricked the king into starting a campaign of genocide against them.  But Haman did not know that the king’s new wife was a Jew herself.

When Haman’s evil plot became a reality, Esther had to find the inner strength to go to the king and speak for the lives of her people.  This was VERY dangerous as she was not allowed to visit the king unless he sent for her.  Esther found her strength and courage and spoke well for her people.

That was thousands of years ago…

Tonight, the Jews celebrate a woman of valor (bravery).  They celebrate by eating wonderful and exotic foods from the Middle East.  They drink wine and eat sugar cookies with chocolate or poppy seed filling (called Hamantachen – pronounced Ha-men-tash-en).  They celebrate their victory over people who try to bring them down.  Many have tried to destroy the Jews.  But the Jewish people prevail.

“Esther is also an inspiring story about a remarkable woman who was willing to risk her life to save her people. She was a woman of principle who was willing to put the lives of others ahead of even her own life. She was an outstanding example of serving others even under the most stressful circumstances. Jesus Christ said, ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends’ (John 15:13).

Most of the time our lives may be pretty routine, but all of us have a few defining moments when we may be called on to put godly principle above personal benefit. What will you do when you encounter those defining moments in your life? What will you do when you face “such a time as this”? Will you choose to do the right thing as opposed to what might give you some personal benefit?

Esther shows all of us the way, and we can be inspired by her example.”

The last two paragraphs are from the website lifehopeandtruth.com