Enjoy Life, Enjoy God
HIGH ESTEEM
January 31, 2012
What does it take in our world to be held in the high esteem of other people? The car we drive? The position we hold in our company? The size of our bank accounts? Having our picture on the cover of The Rolling Stone?
Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews.
---Esther 10:3 TNIV
In thirty years of ministry I've officiated many funerals and memorials. The people held in high esteem upon their death are not thought of highly for any of the above-mentioned reasons. Death rewrites our values system. The very last words of the Book of Esther are written about Mordecai, not Esther! Mordecai was held in high esteem not because of the life he created for himself, but the life he created for others.
I believe there is a God-breathed message for us all in the life of Mordecai.
Joyfully,
Dale Patterson