Morning Dew

Key Passage: Esther 3-4

Key Text: Esther 4:14 – “…And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

It has often been said that a good mentor can cut down your journey by miles, helping you avoid silly mistakes and guiding you to your destination safely and in record time. Most great people have mentors and can attribute most of their successes to lessons imparted by mentors. I like the concept a lot. First it is biblical and secondly, it is wise. One of the advantages of being mentored is that you get to stand on shoulders of giants and you get to see further than you could have seen standing on your own. Another reason is that a good mentor can call you to order when you are erring, and they have a way of reminding you of your purpose and destiny.

Today, we read about an orphan who became the Queen of a vast empire, because she had the guiding hand of a mentor in her life. Esther or Hadassah had a man called Mordecai. Actually Mordecai was her uncle and had taken Esther under his wings when her parents passed away. Being Jews in a foreign land, Mordecai had to teach Esther about the customs and traditions of the Jews and ring her up with the highest moral standards. Mordecai gave Esther her identity.

After Esther became queen by a series of God ordained incidences, Mordecai continued to guide her and watch out for her. He gave her vital information to help her and taught her how to be discretionary with her background. Then arose an enemy of the Jews who wanted to destroy and annihilate all the Jews from the empire. Mordecai got to know of this sinister plan and told Esther to do something about it. Esther was so reluctant to act, perhaps she had gotten used to being the Queen and did not want to jeopardize her position; perhaps she was just too scared to go and see the king, thinking it may cost her, her life; perhaps she did not want to associate with the Jews anymore, after all she was now secure as queen in the palace.

But thank God for Mordecai. He called her to order with a statement that has been preached so many times by preachers over the ages. “Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther was jolted back to life and purpose by Mordecai’s well articulated and measured statement. This is one of the most invaluable things a mentor can do for the person they are mentoring.

I don’t know if you have a Mordecai in your life. If you have, celebrate them. If you haven’t, then try and find one. If all else fails, then let me assure you that we have a God ordained Mordecai in our lives as God’s children. We have the Holy Spirit, who is our leader, teacher and guide. The Holy Spirit has one overriding purpose to make us like Jesus. He will also remind us who we are, and whose we are. He will help us to understand our purpose in life.

It is hard to think that Esther would have been so great without the great Mordecai in her life. Thank God for Mordecai.

Let’s Pray: Father God, thank you for appointing mentors for our lives and enabling them to help us through our journey. We also thank you most especially for the Holy Spirit, who is our leader and guide through life. We open our hearts afresh for the Spirits leading, as Your word says ‘As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God”. Thank you Holy Spirit for your leadership. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.