Difference

11 The number of those slain in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on gallows.”
14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder.
( Esther 9:11-16 )

The story of Esther tells of a desperate situation. While Xerxes (called Ahasuerus in the Book of Esther) is king of the Persian Empire during the 5th century BC, Haman the Agagite plans to kill all the Jews out of hatred for Mordechai. However, his plan does not succeed, Instead, Haman is hanged on the gallows that he built for Mordechai, and the Jews are allowed to fight and defend themselves. So, instead of the Jews being killed, their enemies are killed.
But is there a difference between the Jews and their enemies? Killing is killing. Esther even asks for an extra day to deal with their enemies and another 300 men are killed in the Persian capital of Susa (verse 13).
But if we follow God, there must always be a difference. We see this difference when we read about the plunder. For Haman, killing the Jews has two advantages. He can kill the people of Mordechai, and he can become richer by taking their property. But in Esther chapter 9, we are told three times (verses 10, 15, 16) that the Jews do not “lay their hands on the plunder.” They fight and kill their enemies, but they do not use this to get rich.
We live in this world, and many things we do seem the same as the people of this world. But with God there is a difference. People eat, but Christians give thanks to God for their food. We sleep, but Christians pray before and/or after sleep. We study, but Christians should study not for their own pride or advancement, but to give glory to God and serve Him more effectively. We earn money, but Christians know that the money is not really theirs. It is entrusted to them by God.
The things we do might seem the same, but with God, there must always be a difference.
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Prayer:
• As a Christian, you are in the world, but you are not of the world.
How do give glory to God by the way that you live?
What do you do that does not give glory to God?
Pray that God will help you live a life that is different from the world.