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QueenVashtiRefusestoObey 376CWAlison Hill explains that we sometimes need to make sacrifices to maintain our integrity.

 
King Xerses ruled over one hundred and twenty seven provinces and yet in Esther 1:4 we see signs of insecurity as he displayed “... the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendour and glory of his majesty for one hundred and eighty days”. Do you feel the need to impress or display something other than yourself when you meet people?

God wants you to display the beautiful person that He intended you to be.

King Xerses was married to Queen Vashti; a beautiful Persian princess. Vashti was born royal; she was the daughter of the King of Lydia. Royalty was instilled into her from a young age. The name Vashti means “Excellent woman, best of women.” She became accustomed to who she was and did not feel the need to impress anyone with wealth or power. As she entered the palace of King Xerses, she lived with all of the privileges that her position brought whilst behaving with integrity and honour.

The King called for his Queen to join them at the banquet that followed his display of wealth. The king and his guests had been drinking wine for seven days so the queen would have entered a room full of drunken strangers, which was an insult. In the antiquities of the Jews it states that it forbids wives to be seen by strangers. The BibleGateway states that for her to go into the party was as degrading as a western woman parading naked at a man’s party. Vashti’s reply was simple “No” (Esther 1:12).

That reply cost her, her privileged position as Queen with all of its benefits. But she knew that the benefits were material and didn’t compare to the loss she would have felt as a woman and queen, if she had given in to her King’s request. Queen Vashti prized her self-respect and honour as a woman far more than losing her husband and her royal position. She would rather live life as a free woman being true to who she was, than to live a life of compromise.

When King Xerses asked her to become his Queen he was more interested in her outward beauty. He didn’t know he had married a true queen, one who really knew her royal standing within. One who was prepared to sacrifice all for to keep her inner beauty intact.

Imagine being under such pressure from peers, family, work colleagues to agree to something that would affect you as a person for the rest of your life, simply for the sake of a job, promotion at work, losing friends, denying your Christian faith and so on. Would you be prepared to face the loss that might follow as you stand your ground?

God will more than honour any sacrifice you make for the sake of your faith, honour, integrity or any other quality that you have within.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Matthew 8:36
 
The image of Queen Vashti refusing to go to King Xerses is courtesy of Gustave Doré [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
 


 

Alison Hill CF 150Alison Hill has been involved in Christian ministry for twenty five years and attends her local church in King's Lynn, Norfolk.
She runs Butterfly Ministries, offering Christian workshops to churches, conferences, small and large gatherings, bringing teaching that encourages growth in all areas of Christian life. She is also an author, now writing her third book.
She believes that Christianity is about walking with God daily and learning about His ways through His Word and hearing His voice. 

Visit:
   www.alisonhill-author.co.uk



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