Esther was very well prepared to come to her king. In this copy of a still from the movie, One Night With The King, we see her very well dressed. The Bible tells of of two preparations to go to him. The first time for her wedding. The second, to save her people. The first took months:
Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women;) (Esther 2:12 KJV)
A year of preparing for meeting her king the first time. I know of young couples who sit their wedding date a year in advance, but it is usually spent working, laboring, thinking, planning – and she has no time for months of myrrh and sweet odors!
The second time she faced great danger. To go unbidden to the king could cost her life. This time she took three days, asking Mordecai and others to fast, too.
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16 KJV)
So, how should we prepare to come before our King?
We do it every Sunday morning, to hear His word, to worship Him. Seeing some of the women in churches tells us their preparations were for something besides worship.
Some dress immodestly. Should they choose to kneel at the altar, there would be some concern as to portions of their anatomy remaining covered. Others display the latest and greatest fashions. In either case, their choices appear to be calling attention to themselves.
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; (1 Timothy 2:9 KJV)
Does that mean no braids? Of course not, and earrings (whether gold, pearl or costly) are not out of order. If they do not cause eyes to turn nor thoughts to run rampant.
What if they do? What if there is immodesty? This is nothing new, and you and I both know that. Fashions are not usually designed with worshiping our King in mind. But fashionable choices can be made with a few guidelines in mind. Last year I wrote of our Princess Program and gave an update when the girls went shopping. They bear repeating.
We have a wall mirror in our Sunday School classroom. When (not if, but when!) a girl comes in with a too short skirt on, we ask her (either before or after class) to set in a chair facing the mirror, then tell us what can be seen. It’s an opener to very good discussions about modesty in a private situation.
Unlike Arab or Israeli ‘modesty squads’ I wrote of in 2008, we need not encourage confrontations, but we cannot ignore the lack of courtesy before our King. This requires examples as we come to worship our Lord.
What a good post. And what a great idea about the mirror! We had a young girl with a very short skirt on, and the slit went up to her bottom. When she walked up the steps, all was seen. She needed to see what was going on in the backside! Immodest dress sure takes away from the service. We shouldn't be too scared to speak up about it. So many are scared to preach on it, but if done correctly, it will help them, not push them away.
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