It must be somebody else’s because it is never my fault!

Scripture Read: Esther Chapter 2:1-4 After these things when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. ² Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. ³ “Let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given them. ⁴ “Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly 

Application: I hear today – “young people are so irresponsible, they never take responsibility for their actions” Do you think that is true? It is true, but … the truth is that it has always been true. From the garden until now we humans do not like to take responsibility for our actions when those actions cause us discomfort, loss or pain. I realize that it may be worse at certain times compared to other times. I am sure the “roaring twenties” were filled with far more attitudes that led to a great lack of responsibility compared to the generation that fought in World War 2. Perhaps this generation of credit cards, government assistance and lawyers that will sue God for a rainy day, have become used to getting what they want right now and not having to take responsibility for their own actions. Are they more that way than the previous generation?  I cannot say. I could argue that the previous generation created this generation – that includes me. What I do know is that this character flaw has been in man since Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed God for disobeying Him. In this text, we see one of the ways we do that. Instead of the King paying for his rash decision by being alone, he is given an out with the idea his attendants make. Replace the Queen. Many times instead of paying for our mistake or going without because of what we have done or not done – i.e. not waiting until we have saved enough money to buy a flat screen TV, we convince ourselves that we cannot go without. We whip out the credit card and before you know it, we are at home enjoying our flat screen. We keep doing this until the bills hit – then we declare bankruptcy and blame the credit card or store that sold us the TV. I always ask God for His mercy and grace when my bad actions are reaping what I do not like – but I have also learned that if He chooses not to extend mercy, but chooses the school room – the best thing I can do is take responsibility and learn as much as possible – so I won’t repeat. Let us not be like this King – step up to responsibility and watch how God honors that.  

* Meditation Questions: When you blow it, what do you do? If you have reaped what you sewed, did you ever blame God or consider Him mean? Do you believe that when you have asked for mercy that means there should be no consequence? Are you asking God to teach you how to praise Him even when He has to chastise you out of love?