Thought for the Week from Day by Day with God - week beginning Sunday 5 July 2009

Wealth on show

Esther 1: 1-8 (NIV)

For a full 180 days [King Xerxes] displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendour and glory of his majesty. When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king's palace, for all the people.

I find it intriguing to watch the TV programmes where celebrities show us round their homes. Room to room the camera moves, from the kitchen with its huge worktops and shiny floors, to the bedroom with its four-poster bed and through into the separate dressing room, bursting with enough new outfits for a year. These homes parade wealth and achievement and it's hard not to feel the tiniest bit envious.

The book of Esther opens with King Xerxes' impressive CV: his kingdom extended from India to Ethiopia and he had a house and provisions to die for. He also knew how to throw a serious party, and this party had one aim: Xerxes wanted to show off how much stuff he had. It's no coincidence that military leaders were there (v. 3). Just as Russia and China frequently conduct parades of military hardware today, so Xerxes may have had a similar goal-to impress his enemies and strengthen the resolve of his allies.

We are supposed to be impressed by the wealth and opulence, but we are also supposed to laugh at a culture that takes these things so seriously. King Xerxes is full of style and no substance, as we shall see. As we step out into our culture today, what are we to think of the millions of pounds poured into men kicking a ball around the grass or of magazines showing all the clothes we ‘need' in order to be acceptable? What are we to think of a culture that is more impressed by the style of car we drive than by the way we drive or by how much money we earn rather than our work ethics? We need to learn to laugh at the values of our society, for only then will we pursue the things that matter most-our relationship with God and with other people.

Prayer

Father, help me to see the world as you do and to listen to what you have to say rather than to the lies around me. Help me to value my relationship with you above everything else.

Becci Brown

This reading is taken from Day by Day with God , published every four months in January, May and September.

Further Information and subscriptions