good and better

 

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from Esther 1:1-3:15. This is a beautiful story of love and heroism. If you haven't read it, you should do yourself a favor and read it. It's very short, and very inspiring.

In today's part of the story, Queen Vashti refuses to be paraded in front of all of the nobles of the land while they gawk at her beauty, and she is cast out. In a way, we say good for her! She stood up for herself at a time when it was very unpopular for women to maintain their dignity.

And it also makes the rest of the story possible, so it's a good thing she did. The edict goes out and Esther is brought before the king. He sees how beautiful SHE is, and the story goes on from there. I won't spoil tomorrow night's story by giving it away. 

But you see two different women and their beauty, each responding to it differently. Vashti was very beautiful, and refused to allow men to leer at her, maintaining her dignity. Esther was also very beautiful, and she allowed God to use her beauty to save the people of Israel. What Vashti did was good. What Esther did was better.

Let's learn from their examples. It's good to maintain our dignity and stand up for our rights when the evil people of the world try to trample them. But it's even better to lay down our rights and let God use us to perform His will in the world.

God, thanks for showing us what is good, and what is better.