The Extravagant Drink 1

There are some worship songs that provoke in us the desire to ask God for more of Him in our lives and in our hearts.  I for one love those songs because they cause me to not be satisfied with where I am and to seek Him for more holiness, righteousness, and to go deeper in the river of life with Him so He can be seen in me. For this, I go and seek Him with thanksgiving and praise when I'm hungry and thirsty for His presence.

But I’ve heard other opinions about this— like one preacher I heard on more than one occasion debate that we already have all we could possibly have of God, so why should we ask for more! That statement never sat well with me. I know that Jesus finished His work of redemption on the Cross for us, but this is different. And so I asked, “Father, how much of You are we allowed to have?” To answer my question, our Faithful and Loving Lord with a gentle voice took me to the book of Esther, chapter one.

In verses 1-8, we read of the lavish ways in which King Xerxes celebrated with the people he ruled from India to Cush (Ethiopia) in the third year of His reign. Verses 3 and 4 state that he invited all the military officers of Media and Persia as well as the noblemen and provincial officials and this celebration lasted six months! Imagine that! 

The Scripture also added that this was “a tremendous display of the opulent wealth and glory of his empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty” NLT.  

If that was not enough, King Xerxes then gave a banquet that lasted another seven days for all the servants and officials of the palace from the greatest to the least.

God too is willing to give to us in lavish ways. This means that the offer to partake of the glory of God through communion (fellowship) with Him is open to everyone high and low without distinction or restriction—no matter our color, race, gender, nationality, age, income or status, or where we have been in life. 

Furthermore, the passage states that there were beautiful decorations of gold, silver, marble, mother of pearl, porphyry and other costly stones all showing the riches of the glory of the kingdom that was available to all. Like the people in the passage, all we have to do is be willing to receive through fellowship with Him which enables us to know where we are and where we are going in Him. Also how He’ll take us there as well as the ways of His kingdom that will help us live the abundant life Jesus died to give us. But one thing could be overlooked in this passage that the Lord pointed out to me while He was answering my question—verses 7 and 8 indicate that 

“drinks were served in gold goblets (which signify the glory of God) of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, just as the king had commanded. The only restriction was that no one should be compelled to drink more than he wanted. But those that wished could have as much as they pleased, for the king had instructed his staff to let everyone decide this matter for himself” NLT (Emphasis mine).

This needs no further explanation. The lavish ways of King Xerxes are a representation of our extravagant God who is willing to give to us the riches of His glory. He does not force us to go to Him to drink of this extravagant love, goodness, faithfulness, power, and holiness available to us. But He is more than willing to give to those who ask of Him. It is up to us to decide how much of Him and His presence we want because when God is in control of our lives, the world can see the difference. 

One reason is that His presence can go with us and change chaos into peace and joy, love and wholeness wherever we go as we become conduits of His presence to a dying world because we have chosen to follow every command He gives us. This way, we also taste of His blessings bestowed on us as we choose to drink continually from the living water provided by the wine of His Holy Spirit (Proverbs 10:22 AMP). More on next week’s post. To Him alone be all the glory.