Purim is not a Jewish Halloween. Although we traditionally dress up in customs of Bible heroes, eat, and have fun, Purim is about as different from Halloween as butterflies are from bats.
Purim is a celebration of yet another time when we allowed our walk with God to become too infrequent and impersonal, another time when the people of this world tried to wipe us out, and another time when God intervened as we sought Him in prayer for deliverance. History repeats itself; not much changes except the dates on the calendar and the names of the people God uses.
Where are we today in this circle of repeating history? Are we in the calm before the storm? In the time of slackness on our part? On the verge of the next great calamity to befall us? Or is all that behind us now? Are we living in the promised time of eternal bliss, with no more suffering, no more pain, no more worries, no more fears? Or are we living in the time when more than ever before we need to be watchful and awake, a time when we need to be closer to God then every before? Is God calling you and me to stand like Mordecai and Esther, to stand for God, His word, and His law, to stand against the man-made laws of this world, to stand against oppression and bigotry?
The greatest want of this world is the want of men and women who will not be bought or sold, men and women who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men and women who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men and women whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men and women who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.
Is God calling you and me for such a time as this? Is He calling us to stand for Him and be willing to say with Esther, "If I perish I perish"?
Much more than playing with groggers, eating hamantashens, dressing up, and having fun, the essence of Purim is to stand with and for God. This is the essence of our calling as His people.
Written by Jeffrey Alan
