I am a strong advocate of reading the Bible multiple times. I believe that no matter how many times you read a certain verse, chapter or book over and over again, God speaks to you through it differently every time. So when I was younger and I read through the book of Esther, God taught me the surface level of the story. Through pictures and songs He taught me the gist of what Esther did for her people at the risk of losing her own life. But now I read it again this time and He teaches me something different, something deeper.
I see a relationship between Queen Esther and King Xerxes as one between God and us. Esther was loved by the king. He found favor in her so much that he would give everything and anything to her if she desired it. Likewise, God loves us so much that He is willing to give us all that we need and want; in fact, He already gave us what no other man or world could give to us and that is His son Jesus. But here's the catch, Esther was loyal and she feared her king. Many times we don't have the same attitude for our own King. Sometimes we see God as some magical genie who we only let out when we rub the lamp and ask Him to grant our wishes; sometimes we treat Him like He's our friend, using Him when He's good to us then hating and avoiding Him when it seems like He's not. But we need to be reminded that our God is King of Kings. He is our Ruler and Master whom we should greatly fear and honor as we would any other royalty but x1000.
Tying this into our last week's Bible study discussion, as a parent wants to reward their child when they do something good, our Father lavishes blessings upon those who are good to Him. It's illogical and quite insensible to reward a child who constantly screws up and behaves badly. But God is a God of love and grace- And for that we should be thankful that He does not follow all the rules of parenting; because if He did, we'd all be getting some mad spankings.
