Instituition of a feast – Purim
Bible Passage: Esther 9
Joy in Remembering
Sometimes our lives seem to be a far cry from heaven on earth.
We have many things to worry about, to do and to struggle with. Sometimes, even serving God may create stress in us. Maybe our relationship with family members, friends or other church members is strained.
How can it be?
Where is the joy, which the Lord promised to give to us?
Zooming back in history to the time of Esther, we see that the thirteenth day of the month of Adar turned from mourning to indescribable joy for the Jews. On that day, they overcame all their enemies. Subsequently, they celebrated the feast of Purim, to rejoice over God’s salvation grace.
Ever since then, have the Jews been keeping this feast to remember what God did for them and how God gave them peace.
So, Purim teaches us about remembering.
How often do we actually remember all that God has done for us on the cross and throughout our lives? Whenever we remember these blessings, what do we feel?
Do we feel touched? Thankful? Joyous? Or do we merely acknowledge this as a fact?
Remembering God’s grace means that we truly treasure what the Lord has done for us, especially His sacrifice on the cross. If we see the incomparable value of salvation, we will treasure it. If we treasure salvation, we will be filled with joy and thankfulness whenever we remember God’s salvation grace.
So, remembering helps us to be happy… but what about all our unsolved problems in life, which are a constant source of sorrow?
Again, the key is to remember God’s almighty work of salvation.
If God can deliver us from eternal death, what else is there that He can’t do? And if God so loved us, to give us the sword of His Spirit and His word to overcome our enemies, why don’t we rise up to fight, just as the Jews did on the thirteenth of the month of Adar?
When we rise to fight against despair and impatience in times of trial, against lust and greed in times of temptation, against selfishness and pride in times of conflict, God will give us the victory; and victory will be followed by pure joy.