Here’s a quick bible trivia quiz. What was the name of Queen Esther’s husband? Give up? It was Ahasuerus. Or as he called himself, “The Chief of Rulers”. Esther chapter 1 tells us this mighty king had absolute sovereign control from India to Ethiopia. Wouldn’t it be nice to be him! What do you think he spent his money on? Well, the Chief of Rulers spent his gold on a 187 day drinking party to show off his glory and splendour. He wowed the guests in his palace with curtain rods made out of silver, marble pillars and golden couches resting on mosaics of precious stones. Sounds pretty familiar doesn’t it? Alcohol and a big fancy house. How do you think he exercised his power? Well, at the end of the party he tried to command his first wife, Queen Vashti to show off her beauty to all his friends so they’d be impressed with his manliness. The only problem was, she refused to come and be his entertainment show piece. Sounds pretty familiar doesn’t it? A man trying to coerce a beautiful woman to feed his pride and lust only to be rejected.
Now, how do you think a man would react to that kind of rejection? Especially when he thinks he’s The Chief of Rulers and he’s been drinking heavily. You guessed it. King Ahasuerus totally lost control and banished his Queen. Here is a man who’s supposed to have absolute sovereign control from India to Ethiopia and he can’t even control his own temper. Here is a man who feels so happy because he’s satisfied his every desire yet as soon as he’s denied, all his happiness immediately vanishes. What is going on here? Jesus explains in the Sermon on the Mount when he says, “you cannot serve both God and money.”
King Ahasuerus, along with everyone else, was actually a servant not a king. He served the gods of money, sex and power. He served alcohol and good feelings. The god of materialism held his heart captive. And it let him down. Does this sound familiar? Do you believe Satan’s lie that power and money can solve all your problems? Do you spend all of your time and energy getting emotionally high? What comes out of your mouth when things don’t go your way? Who feels your anger if you’re unhappy with life? If you have made this world an idol then you are not serving God because “no one can serve two masters”.
Jesus Christ teaches us the way to serve God. He commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. Our thought life must be God’s. Our affections must be God’s. Our energy and time must be God’s. Only a person who hates and leaves their sin and trusts in Christ alone for forgiveness will know the freeing power of being made a servant of God. Which master are you serving today?
By Pastor Allen Beardmore