Observation: Haman's plot to completely destroy Mordecai was oh so close to succeeding. He had an order to have all Jews killed soon, and a plan to have Mordecai hung this very day. However, it is this discovery - that Mordecai foiled a plot against the king and was never rewarded for it - that will save his life and eventually the lives of all the Jews.
There are actually two elements to this turn of fortune for Mordecai and the Jews. The first is that the king is reminded of Mordecai's faithfulness. However, the second is just as important in the coming action ... Mordecai was not rewarded for his faithfulness at the time he performed it.
Mordecai has in fact been faithful to King Xerxes. He has attended his court, been a faithful low-level official, and even arranged his niece to become the favorite queen. And he foiled a plot to kill the king by learning of it, then acting by reporting it promptly and accurately. However, he did all these things in relative secret. He didn't do something like openly accuse or kill those plotting against the king, but simply acted as appropriate and allowed the investigation to prove him right. He didn't parade is niece around for the king to ogle, but he coached her in the process to becoming queen. He hasn't made any major power play in the court to self-promote himself, but simply attends to his own work every day.
If Mordecai had been rewarded for saving the king's life, the king wouldn't have needed reminding of it. He would have known of the incident and hand-waved the retelling of it away that night, if it had even been recorded in the logbook at all. If Mordecai would have had such recognition before, Haman would have altered his plot, and at the very least the massacre of the Jews would likely have gone forward without his own disgrace derailing it. And certainly Mordecai would not have received any extremely special, extremely public honor on this very day if he had already been honored with a private gift in the past.
Mordecai has been faithful all along in matters great and small, and his only reward has been his daily salary. It is both these facts that create the conditions for such great honor to come, and even the salvation of God's people.
Application: I try to be faithful ... I know I'm not really good, but I do try to be faithful. My blessings have been continual and daily, for I receive not just my 'daily bread', but I receive an overflowing abundance in my life ... a good measure, pressed down, and overflowing the basket.
And I do not want any other recognition and reward. I believe my great reward will come in heaven, in the form of eternal life in a realm of pure joy and love, with a home provided by my savior Jesus, within the context of salvation for all the faithful believers. These are rewards in the future, and I do not want empty rewards now instead of them. Yes, someday I hope MY king reads in a book of some faithful act I performed, though my deeds are minor and unworthy of singular recognition. So I continue to try to do right, be faithful, and delight in my daily life.
Prayer: Lord, I do thank you for my daily bread. You provide me with everything I need, every day, and I do not need anything further. Your love and grace is sufficient for my life. Amen.
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