Day 346 Bible Reading (ESV) 

Esther 4: 14

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

I love this line from Esther 3! Mordecai is speaking to his sister Esther and tells her that if she keeps silent, God will send help from another person, but she will perish. But perhaps you have become queen of the land so you can help the Jews escape death.

I know sometimes when I think about doing something, the thought always occurs to me that I do nothing then someone else will surely say or something. But then guilt washes over me and I think, is that bad karma if I do nothing? Will is perish for not taking action or speaking? Then another thought comes into my head that says “maybe I was put into the position precisely because I was meant to do something about it. I have all this power and maybe I can put the power to good use.

It's such an interesting line “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” I don’t think we can really know what our role is in life. We need to pray to God and wait for him to let us know or send a sign to guide our way. It is seductive to think I was born to be do something, but I think until one checks in with God, one has to cautious and always try to discern what role God wants us play in this world.

 Day 345 Bible Reading

I don’t have a specific bible passage today that struck me today, so I want to write about the Book of Esther since we started reading it today. There is no mention of God or God’s covenant in the Book of Esther, but it seems clear from the reading that the characters in the book never forgot about the Covenant God made with Moses and his people. Even though the characters in this story have been in exile from Jerusalem, they have held on to their faith and the expectation that God is watching over them and will rescue his people from harm.

Their faith is strong, and I envy their unwavering faith in God’s protection over their lives. The Book of Esther reminds me that to truly have faith in God, one must always expect and depend on God’s intervention in our lives. The Book of Esther seems to be an example of people with true faith in God.

Day 344 Bible Reading

Proverbs 30: 5 (ESV)

“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

I like this line from Proverbs 30. I know from experience that whenever I think I have heard the word of God coming through in my prayers, whatever has said has always come true. Maybe not necessarily in the way I thought it would come true, but whatever was told me would come true nonetheless.

God also provides a shield that defends me and makes me feel protected and loved. When I feel depressed and low, I feel God’s love surrounding me and I am being held in God’s hands because I am so fragile and he has to hold on to so I don’t fall apart. It’s an amazing feeling of being loved by God. I’m not sure if others feel that way about God during the low points of their lives, but it’s the way I feel.

Day 343 Bible Reading 

Zechariah 9: 9 

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 

I love this line from Zechariah 9 since it reminds me of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a donkey. Would someone who was familiar with Zechariah have caught the significance of Jesus arriving on a donkey like a king from the Old Testament? It makes me wonder if they saw the similarity when it first happened, or later when they were remembering the event.