PREPARING TO SEE THE KING

Joe Slater

Persian king Ahasuerus banished his queen and sought a new one (see the book of Esther). I hope none of us would approve of what he did or how he did it. How degrading to demand that Vashti flaunt her beauty before the king’s drunken nobles! Then he selected his new wife based almost entirely on her physical attractiveness. But why would we expect anything else? The king was a pagan and behaved in typical pagan fashion. Despite all of this, God worked through those events to deliver His people.

Hadassah (Esther), a young Jewish girl, went through a solid year of beauty preparations before her interview with the king (Esther 2:12). Please don’t think ill of her! She didn’t make the rules. She made the best of a less-than-ideal situation.

We serve a King infinitely superior to Ahasuerus. Esther diligently prepared to see her king. Let us take a cue from her by preparing to see King Jesus!

This has nothing to do with physical attractiveness or lack thereof! Nor am I concerned here with wearing a coat and tie to the assembly. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to inspire the apostles to emphasize inner spiritual beauty. “Rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quite spirit” (1 Peter 3:4). In contrast to flashy, costly garments, Paul urges being clothed “with good works” (1 Timothy 2:10).

Revelation 7:13-14 pictures faithful Christians as dressed in robes they had washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. They had gone through fiery trials without yielding. They were inwardly beautiful!

Does inner beauty qualify you to meet your King? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Via Bulletin Gold