I encourage you to read the book of Esther this week and to celebrate the redemptive plan that God has for his people. I also believe it is important to recognize this ongoing spiritual and physical battle that continues to take place against the Jewish people and nation. The nation of Persia as described in the book of Esther is now modern day Iran, whose goal is also to destroy the Jewish people. So I also encourage you to pray for the Jewish people that continue to face villainous hatred, and ask that God will again save his people. And may God’s saving grace also penetrate our own lives as we embrace his redemptive purposes for us through Jesus Christ.

It’s not until you are completley in the dark that you realize you are in desperate need of some light.  Or maybe you are in the light but you need a greater concentration of light in a specific area so you can see more clearly (like turning on the lamp when reading a book).

John the Baptist had a great sensitivity to the light,  John the writer explains it like this, ”There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”

May we who are followers of the light,  be encouraged that the light shines in the dark and that the light is able to brighten every dark or dim place so that we may see more clearly. Warning: Remember that we ourselves are NOT the light, but like John only bear witness to that light. Sometimes as Chrisitians and even as leaders in the church it is easy to be distracted and  may even stand in the way of that light. So may we proclaim that I am not the light but I know him who is the light, and declare the way to the light. So that the ETERNAL LIGHT MAY SHINE ON ALL MEN.