SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21
Scripture: Esther 5:9-14

Esther 5:9-14 says, “So Haman went out that day joyful and with a glad heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, and that he did not stand or tremble before him, he was filled with indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and called for his friends and his wife Zeresh. Then Haman told them of his great riches, the multitude of his children, everything in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and servants of the king. Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king. Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate. Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, ‘Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.’ And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.” Haman was plotting to kill Mordecai and to destroy the Jews. Up to a point, his plot seemed to be working. But God had positioned key people to make a difference. Both Mordecai and Esther, if they could muster courage, might see God’s Hand of deliverance. The question was, would they risk what was involved to walk in that place? Never let it be said that walking in justice or doing judgment does not have a risk. It does. You can see that with Esther and with Mordecai. The question is, will we say yes to the risk in order to see the deliverance?