Wednesday February 14th, 2024
« God is the one who said, ‘Let light shine in the dark.’ And He is the one who has caused His light to shine deep inside us. Because of that, we know how great and powerful God is. We see that His power shines brightly in Christ’s face »
5 At that time there was a Jewish man in the fortress of Susa whose name was Mordecai son of Jair. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and was a descendant of Kish and Shimei.
6 His family had been among those who, with King Jehoiachin of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.
7 This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also called Esther. When her father and mother died, Mordecai adopted her into his family and raised her as his own daughter.
8 As a result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the king’s harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai’s care.
9 Hegai was very impressed with Esther and treated her kindly. He quickly ordered a special menu for her and provided her with beauty treatments. He also assigned her seven maids specially chosen from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.
“Let there be light” could mean, “Let there be shining beauty”.
Darkness is ugly, and beauty is neither shown nor appreciated in it.
For example, when darkness envelopes a beautiful woman, no one can see or appreciate her beauty.
Conversely, when the light of God shines upon the same person, her beauty would be seen and appreciated by all.
In our Bible reading today, we read of God’s light shining upon the slave girl Esther who later became Queen.
The secret is the light of God that shone upon her – nothing more.
Nobody appreciates beauty in darkness.
For example, in the daytime, Jacob admired Rachel so much that he opted for her instead of her elder sister. However, when darkness came and Leah was presented, he did not know who was who until the following morning (Genesis 29:16-19, 23-26).
An adage says that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
What many fail to know is that beauty is synonymous with light.
It is she who has the light of God on her that looks beautiful.
There was a woman who was beautiful in the real sense of it. She was a woman beautiful not only to behold but also to be desired as a wife. However, the husband turned her to a punching bag! She appeared repulsive to the husband, despite her beauty and accomplishments. The truth of the matter was that darkness so beclouded her beauty that her husband could not appreciate it.
The conclusion of the matter is found in our memory verse of today. Do you want all forms of darkness and evil to depart from you?
Do you want the light of God to beam and radiate His glory all over you?
Make up your mind to surrender all to the Light – Jesus Christ, and the light of God would shine upon you.
Surrender all to the Father of lights today and every darkness beclouding your vision from seeing and experiencing His glory will flee, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Prayer focus – Father, please let Your light shine upon me and reveal Your glory upon my life, in Jesus’ name.
Author – Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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