TODAY’S VERSE:  

Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

In prep school we have started a series on Esther, a book in the Old Testament of the Bible. The story begins during a huge celebration that has been going on for six whole months- that is some party, huh? The King of Susa, King Xerxes, is the one hosting this celebration and he decides that he wants to show everyone his beautiful wife, Queen Vashti. When he sends someone to get her, she refuses to go to the King. Um, as you can imagine, he was NOT happy. We asked the kids what they thought about all of this. At first, they said the Queen had the right to say no. Do you agree with them? The kids changed their mind as we went on with the lesson. We will show you why.

King Xerxes was not only Queen Vashti’s husband, but her King. Here are some verses to show you what God says about these 2 relationships.

Ephesians 5:22 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.”

Ecclesiastes 8:2 “I say: Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him.”

So, how does this relate to you? Here is a story to help you understand. Suzie finishes up her homework and is a little bit hungry, but dinner is still about an hour away. She asks her mom for a snack, who says no and that she needs to wait for dinner to eat. Suzie sneaks some cookies from the cookie jar, anyway, and eats so many that she is full when her dad comes home with dinner. Her parents had planned to surprise Suzie with her favorite pizza for dinner and ice cream for dessert because she did so well on her last report card. Her mom did not want her to snack so that she would have lots of room for all the goodies they planned! Her disobedience ruined the nice surprise her parents had planned for her. How sad. She should have just obeyed and trusted that mom had her reasons for saying no, huh?

Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

Does God command us to obey the authority in our lives only if we understand or agree with them? Nope. He just tells us to obey and leave the rest to Him. Here is something to remember, the authorities in your life know more than you.  Even more importantly, God knows everything, is always right, and He is the one who put you under their authority.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

We will not always understand why we are told to do certain things, but that is not what is important. What is important is that we obey God’s commands. He commands us to obey Him, as well as those in authority in our lives. When we obey, God will bless us.

Luke 11:28 “He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”