2022 | Week of June 6 | Radio Transcript #1467

It was a weekend of profound impressions. On Friday night I watched Sight & Sound’s streamed Story of Esther. A biblical account of the young Hebrew woman who found herself in the Persian King’s harem and chosen to be his queen—for such a time as this—as God uses her to save her people from annihilation.

In my ladies’ Adult Bible Fellowship Sunday morning, we began a study of Hebrews 11…the great Hall of Fame chapter.  Our teacher took us early on from verse 3 to Genesis chapter 1, where we read through God’s creation, and talked about how faith plays a part in what we believe about origins. We discussed how foundational this chapter is for a Christian worldview.

Then the visiting speaker at our church this past Sunday preached on a portion of Scripture that we have frequently referred to when we speak to people about Christians making a difference in the culture: Matthew 5:13-16.  In these verses Jesus tells us we are salt and light and reminds us we are to be effective in these two capacities.

The takeaways from all three of these experiences are related.

Esther had no idea about the outcome of her decision to approach the king and ask for some way for her people to be saved from extinction because of wicked Haman’s order to have them all killed. She was justifiably afraid. But she chose to exercise faith over fear, realizing that even if she perished, she would have done the right thing.

Now is our time. We don’t live where we live by accident. God in His sovereignty and omniscience has placed us exactly where He wants each of us. We, too, are here, right here, right now, for such a time as this. What is it that we are supposed to do or say that requires us, in faith, to trust God with the outcome, even though we may be rightly fearful about the outcome? If you can’t think of something right now, may I suggest that you ponder this truth because there will come a time you will face an Esther moment.

Perhaps that moment will be challenging the biggest lie of all time—how the universe and all that is in it, including us, got here and what our purpose is. “In the beginning God”—probably the four most important words in all the Bible, because if we don’t believe that, then we get everything else wrong. What we believe about origins determines most of the rest of what we believe about everything else.  If you don’t believe in God and you don’t believe He created you and your world, then you become the determiner of what is right and wrong, and you live as though you have no accountability and as though there will never be a day of reckoning.

Are you 100% solid on what you believe about creation? Are you making sure those you love know the truth on this foundational matter? The incessant evolution drumbeat makes it difficult for younger generations to hear and see the truth. If we want the next generation to have a solid biblical worldview that serves them well as they navigate life in this sin-cursed world, we must intentionally help them. Further, we must do everything we can to help those outside of Christ know this truth as well.

And that brings us to being salt and light. These verses in Matthew 5, don’t command, suggest, or even encourage us to be salt and light. Christ simply says that’s what we are: you are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world. Those are powerful descriptors of us! The preservation characteristic of salt seems to be Christ’s main point, and the dispelling of darkness the main characteristic of light. Christ then warns us: don’t lose our saltiness and don’t hide our light. So, we must ask how effective are we as salt and light? Are we preserving effectively? Are we exposing darkness, while also lighting the right path? Are we speaking up, standing up, and showing up in ways that let people know Jesus Christ is the answer?

God has put each of us here as salt and as light for such a time as this. He’s given us His forever-settled Word that gives us the foundational truth about Who He is and how we and everything else came into being. In other words, we have all we need to make a difference for righteousness right now, right here in Wisconsin. Do we have the faith of an Esther to do what is right, trusting God for the outcome?

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”