Read

Esther 5:1-10:3

Esther 7:7-9, “Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden. Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. In despair, he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden. The king exclaimed, ‘Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?’ And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom. Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, ‘Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.’ ‘Then impale Haman on it!’ the king ordered.”

Think

Have you ever wanted something so bad you’d do anything to get it? Hopefully, not as much as Haman in the book of Esther. He was so jealous of Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, that he tried to have all the Jews in the land killed due to his ineptitude and inability to give credit where credit was due.

But jealousy always comes back to bite in the end. All of Haman’s carefully laid plans for Mordecai’s demise came back to haunt him as he suffered the very ending that he’d hoped Mordecai to suffer — he was impaled on a high pole just as he’d tried to orchestrate for his foe’s death.

Be careful what you wish for! If we have animosity towards others — especially those who live in light of God’s will and plans, it will always go wrong for us in the end. Seek God first! If someone is God’s enemy, then the Bible says it is for God to repay their wrath. If they are of God and we seek their downfall, we befall that wished-for outcome. Bottom line: Seek God first and His righteousness, as Matthew 6:33 tells us to do, and all things will be added unto us! We can’t go wrong if we seek to live out the path and purpose God has placed before us!

Pray

God, I seek Your will and righteousness first, trusting that all things will be added to me in return. Forgive me when I think ill of others and hope the worst for them. I know that it only leads me along the wrong path. I want to live out Your perfect will. Amen.