There is one thing that intrigues me about the book of Esther. It is the only book of the Bible that does not mention God. That is a fact others have discussed before. But in that fact lies a deeper question.

I read through the books of Kings and Chronicles and even the worst of the kings of Israel and Judah mention God. He was so entrenched in their vocabulary, their culture that they could hardly help it.

What happened to them? Did they believe they were unworthy? Did they see the distance, both spiritually and physically, from their homes that they lost their sense of who He was, who He is?

I think that we sometimes get in those places where we don’t want to think about God. We don’t want to mention His name. We cannot speak about Jesus in front of others because He is so obviously absent from our hearts. We can pray, but they are “foxhole” prayers. “I can’t do a relationship with You but I don’t want to die,,,”

You can’t go too far from God. If you are alive and they aren’t about to defibrillate you, you have all you need to mention Him, to speak to Him. Don’t let the voice of condemnation negate the voice of mercy and grace.

The Bible says there is no other name that saves us. So go ahead, try it. Just say, out loud, the name that is above every name, JESUS. Talk about God in a conversation with a friend.

Come back home.