Day 269: Which Side?

Revelation 13; Esther 3-4; Psalm 106:1-23

Whoa, the implications of what is written in this chapter of Revelation is really powerful. These beasts that are given power for a short time corrupt the entire world into worshiping them. They are able to work amazing miracles and convince everyone of their power. And get this: everyone who doesn't worship them is put to death. John reminds us urgently: "This means that God's people must learn to endure and be faithful!" To worship this beast just to save our earthly life is to trade all of God's gift of salvation and life for eternal death. If such a time comes in our lifetime, are we going to be willing to be faithful to Jesus Christ? What about when the mark of the beast must be put on our hands or foreheads in order to do business and buy food? Will we be willing to not take the mark, risk our lives out of love for The Lord? Such a powerful and dangerous message requires some thought as to which side we stand on, because it sounds like there will be no middle ground in these times. People in our 21st century culture like to live in the grey area, not offending anyone, but not standing for anything. This chapter reveals that the grey area will not exist forever. Are we going to be hot or cold? Black or white? In or out? Alive or dead?

In Esther, evil Haman uses the differences of the Jews as a reason to kill them. It's awesome that Mordecai was unwilling to bow to another besides God, but the cost was great (just like it talks about in Revelation). There are a few actions that these people perform that I think are important to learn from. First, Haman is driven by greed, pride, and selfishness; to kill Mordecai was not enough, he needed to destroy everyone like him in order to protect his self-image. His pride was destructive enough to kill hundreds, maybe thousands. Then, the king hands over his ring to Haman to do what he wants. Why would he simply give over his control rather than overseeing something so significant? Xerxes should have been more discerning as a leader. This is not to say that delegation is bad, but we need to find people to trust that are really trustworthy. Finally, there is a great shift in faith in Esther. At first, she comes up with excuses, but when she realizes that everything is on the line for her and her people, she steps up. Sometimes is takes dire circumstances for us to realize how much faith we need.

The beginning of this psalm focuses on the forgetfulness of God's people. As his followers, we need to remember his miracles, not just the things he has done in our lives, but in history as well. Life may not move forward as we expect, but God has come through every time for those who love him, why would it be any different for us today?