Today's reading: Esther 7, 8, 9; Psalm 27, 57, 87, 117, 147; Proverbs 27
Esther 7:8-9, "Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon."
I remember as a teenager going hunting with a friend from school. We went to the farm where my aunt and uncle lived. There was a small patch of woods there and plenty of things to shoot at. If I remember correctly it was November and very cold. I do remember there was some snow on the ground and things were pretty well frozen over. For some stupid reason We decided to empty his semi-automatic shotgun into a large tree to see what it would do. Did I mention this was a stupid idea? The tree was quite frozen and all the buckshot from three shells came back and hit us both. I had small BB holes in my vest as I remember and I don't remember if my friend sustained any damage. By the grace of God neither one of us were injured.
I really don't know why we did that. One thing I do know is that we did not count the cost. We did not think about what might really happen. After it was all over we wished that we had not done such a stupid thing. "Kids!" you might say. We knew better; but, we did it anyway. Then came the repercussions. Nobody wants to deal with them.
It is the same in our spiritual life. If we as God's children sin there will be repercussions. Sin always brings with it a penalty. If we are not God's child the repercussions are even greater. If you step out into eternity, friend, without trusting Jesus Christ as your Saviour you will go straight to a real place called hell. It is a place of torment that was prepared for the devil and his angels. God never intended for us to go there. It is our sin that sentences us to hell if we do not trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Will you trust Him today? I hope so.
