Esther 9:19

A Good Day

A day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another,... and gifts to the poor. Esther 9:19; Esther 9:22.

What do you call a good day? I wonder. Do you ever say to yourself as you snuggle under the blankets at night, “Well this has been a good day anyway.” I think I could guess what has made your day a good day. More than likely it has been a day when delightful things have happened to you. Perhaps you have got a present of something you have been longing for; perhaps you have been treated to a circus or a menagerie; perhaps you have made a fine score at cricket; perhaps you have won a prize that you have worked hard to get; perhaps but there's no need to add more, there are hundreds of happy things in the world that may have made it a good day for you.

Why was it a good day for the people in our text? I can tell you. It was a good day because God had delivered them out of terrible danger, and made them victorious over their enemies. If things had gone as they had been planned not one of these people would have been alive on that good day. They would all have been dead on the day before; for that was the danger they had escaped the danger of losing their lives.

They were Jews these people but not Jews living in their own land; they were living in the land of Persia. The king of that land had listened to evil tales which were not true, and had been persuaded by a man called Haman, who hated the Jews, that they were a wicked troublesome lot and that the sooner the king got rid of them all the better. The king, unfortunately, was rather a foolish man who gave orders first and thought afterwards, so he immediately ordered that all the Jews should be put to death on a certain day. It was a large order; and a terrible one too.

But there was one who determined that if she could help it that order should not be carried out. She was a Jewess, and her name was Esther, and she was also the king's wife. He was very fond of her, but he was such a great king that even she dared not approach him until he sent for her. If she went to him without being sent for she risked her life. But Esther thought only of her people and that made her brave, so she went to the king and she showed him how wicked and false Haman's stories had been, and the king repented of the order he had given, and was so angry with Haman that he condemned him to death.

But the difficulty in Persia was that once a law had been made it could never be unmade. If the king had once said, “Kill the Jews,” he couldn't say, “Do not kill the Jews.” However the king hit upon a plan. He issued an order that all the Jews should be allowed to defend themselves when attacked; and when the dreaded day arrived the Jews were ready; and instead of being slain, they slew their enemies. Then the day after they rested and feasted and were glad. They made that day a good day, a day of rejoicing, and of sending presents to one another, and of giving presents to the poor. That is how it was a good day for the Jews.

And it is still a good day for the Jews in every land, for in memory of that great deliverance the Jews keep what they call the feast of Purim. It is a sort of Jewish Christmas day, for alas! the Jews do not keep Christmas day as we do.

Now I think we might copy these old Jews in their idea of a good day. You see God first made it a good day for them, and then they made it a good day for others. When God gives us a good day, why should we not pass on some of the goodness to others? Let us give away some of the joy that comes our way. Let us share our happiness. Instead of making us less happy it will make us even happier.

Boys and girls, it is like this. God gives us everything, and we can't show our gratitude to Him in the same way as we can show it to other people. We can't give God something in return. Of course we can give Him our love, and He wants that most of all, but I am speaking rather of some real thing, some token, and we can't give that to God. No, but we can give it to somebody else who needs it, and that is what God wishes us to do. Giving it to that somebody, we are really giving it to Him. There are plenty of “somebodies” who have got neither happy homes, nor happy presents, nor nice food, nor warm clothing. God loves us to remember these “somebodies” when the good day comes our way.

I think God would be very pleased if we were all like the little girl I read of the other day. She and her brothers and sisters were promised a monthly allowance. She was a very tiny tot, so her allowance was to be only a small amount. But it seemed a huge sum to the little maid, and she was so overjoyed that she got it changed at once for two farthings. Then she ran through to her father's study and said, “Daddy, I'm very rich now, and I'm going to allow you a farthing a month; and here is your December farthing!”

If He gives us a good and happy day, let us try to make it a good and happy day for others. If we do that we shall find that it is not only a good but, what is better, a perfect day.