READ: ESTHER 4:1-17; EPHESIANS 2:1-10

Do you ever wish you had been born during a different time? I sometimes wish I was living earlier in history. I read books about knights, ladies, and castles, and I think I would like to have lived during the Middle Ages. Or I wish we could go back to when people worked harder for themselves and didn’t have to rely so much on technology. Maybe you wish the same. Or maybe you like the technology we have and wish you had been born with even more of it.

But as I was thinking about this, eventually I realized that, while we may not like exactly everything about the time we were born, there are things from every time period we might like and dislike. For instance, the Middle Ages were dangerous with brutal warfare and medical practices that were often misguided and even harmful. These days, someone who is sick or injured or disabled can be helped in many ways that weren’t available in the past.

Even more so, I realized that God has placed us exactly where we are for a purpose. We are right where we’re supposed to be, right in the time God wants us to be. It might be hard or frustrating, but as we wait for Jesus’s return, God promises to be with us. And, He has a job for us.

In the book of Esther, a young Jewish woman named Esther is taken into the harem of King Xerxes and later chosen to become his new queen. When her cousin Mordecai discovers a plot to kill all the Jewish people, he urges Esther to speak to the king. Mordecai says, “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Just like Mordecai said to Esther, we too are here for such a time as this, for a purpose. God has put us right where we are, in such a time as this, to do His good work. • Haley Walts

• Do you ever wish you lived during a different time period? Which one? Why?

• Ephesians 2 describes how God saved us through Jesus’s death and resurrection, not because of any good things we do, but because of His great love for us. Then verse 10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” What are some of these good works we get to do with Jesus? (Genesis 1:26-31; Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 10:25-37; Acts 1:7-8; Philippians 1:21-26; 1 Timothy 6:18; 1 Peter 4:10)

• One of the purposes God has for all Christians is to share the gospel. How could you look for opportunities to share the gospel with people around you who might not know Jesus? (If you want to know more about the gospel and how to share it with others, see our "Know Jesus" page.)

“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 (NIV)