For Such a Time as This

With the start of the new year I have made a few resolutions (I hate that word, because you already assume I won't keep them), two of which tie together: Resolution 1: Read through the entire Bible in 2012, using the M'Cheyne Reading Plan and Resolution 2: Blog once a month. Hopefully my life experiences will be informed by the scripture that I am filling my heart with on a daily basis, but I cannot promise that a few jokes of the sarcastic variety and TFM nature won't slip in there from time to time.

With that said, I have been in the word for almost the entire month of January and honestly, not much has clicked with me thus far. Part of my problem is that some of the scripture I am almost too familiar with, to the point where I almost blow it off and fail to stop and really try to soak it in, and the other half of scripture I have been reading in the Old Testament is often times bogged down by ancient civilizations I don't understand and the lineages of king's who don't seem relevant. Nonetheless, over the past few days I have been in the book of Esther and her story has captivated and challenged me.

Esther's story begins when King Ahasuerus, the ruler of Persia becomes drunk at a massive banquet and calls his wife and Queen in to show her off. The Queen does not want to be made a spectacle in front of the King's drunk buddies and refuses to go. Just like that, the Queen is "disposed of." This leaves King Ahasuerus Queen-less. After a lengthy nation wide beauty contest, (think if the President needed a first lady, and held the Ms. America pageant to find his Laura Bush) he finds Esther, a beautiful Jew. After Esther has been established as the queen, the King's Prime Minister, Haman, makes a decree that all Jews will be exterminated. Esther's cousin, Mordecai (who was the one who made Haman irate because he refused to bow down to him) seeks out Esther and convinces her that she needs to talk to the king to save the Jews.

The problem is that Esther can't just drop in on the king while he is in his royal court. If she shows up unannounced, the king could have her killed. Esther knows what must be done, so she enter's the kings court and fortunately for Esther, he extends his royal scepter as a symbol of immunity to Esther. In fact, he is thrilled that she "dropped by the office." Esther arranges a banquet for the King and Haman. At the banquet, the king says to Esther:

“What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done,” Esther’s reply was brilliant: “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me as my petition, and my people as my request; for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.” The king was shocked. “Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do thus?” And Esther put the finger on Haman, much to his horror (Esth. 7:1-6).

Needless to say, Haman is then hung from the very gallows that he built to kill Mordecai and the Jews were saved.

My favorite part of this scripture is when Mordecai comes to Esther when he finds out about Hamon's decree and says to her, "...you have been put in your royal position for such a time as this."

It took courage for Esther to step up and to do what she needed to, but she had faith in the Lord and trusted that she really was put in that position for a purpose.

I don't know what the new year has in store for you, what troubles it might bring or happiness it might usher in, but I do know, that "for such a time as this," God has placed people, situations, blessings and sorrows in our lives with purpose. I always get hung up when I say that God has a plan, because the whole free will deal still confuses me, but I do know that God has made us each uniquely and there are people around us that need us to be who God has knit us together to be. As you go forward this semester, looking for internships and jobs, building new friendships, working through classes and interacting with random individuals, as you go about your day, ask yourself, "for such a time as this," what is God calling me to do? Once you feel that tug on your heart/conscience, act on it. Just like God was faithful to see Esther into the king's court, he will do the same for you.

Carpe the Kingdom

Towards the end of last semester I began embracing the "carpe college" mentality. Taking advantage of all the opportunities and freedoms that college affords is a great thing, but I allowed this mind set to seep in too far. It began translating as "College is all about me and I am going to do whatever I please." In other words, I began embracing selfishness and forgot my bigger purpose in life: to Carpe the Kingdom.

What does Carpe the Kingdom even mean? It means living a life that is not about you. What?! College is supposed to be all about me...making the grades to obtain a lucrative job, finding a hot wife, looking as fratty as possible... Those are not bad objectives, but carpe the kingdom is about much more. Carpe the Kingdom embraces that if we are in Christ then we are promised eternal life and we are going to live forever with part of our stay on earth and a much larger portion of eternity in Heaven. Let's start living life, realizing that Christ conquered death and if we are in him, death has lost its sting, meaning that it has no authority over us. We are not going to stay six feet under, but be elevated to live with Christ in Heaven forever after we breathe our last breath on this earth.

The opportunity before us is huge. We can make decisions on this earth that echo into eternity. The way we choose to love others, the way we invest our time, and ultimately the way we live out the Gospel are all things that are important to our creator and are things that we should be intentional about because they matter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that we all become monks and nuns and stay in Bible study all day. In fact, I think that if Jesus was in college today #1 he would be the biggest frat star of all time #2 he would go to a school in the Big 12 (sorry Nebraska...) #3 he would be the life of every party. Following Jesus in college should not make us dull, but we should be the most fascinating people in our communities, clothed with love, humility and compassion.

Be in college, embrace the freedom, take random road trips, put off your term paper until the last night and pull an all nighter, frat hard, make good grades, make better friends, but ultimately embrace the Kingdom. Jesus is calling us to bring His kingdom closer to our universities, roommates, families, teams and fraternity brothers and the only way to do that is to be more about loving God and loving others than ourself.

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary but the things that are unseen are eternal. "

2 Corinthians 4:16-18