In 1989 Spike Lee released a movie title, "Do The Right Thing." It was a full-volume comedy drama with high spirits of a block party and it takes place during the hottest day of the summer, on a single block in the predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyevesant. During 24 eventful hours of vividly street life, bickering escalates into confrontation and that is channeled into violence against the only available symbol of the white power structure - Sal's Famous Pizzeria that is run by an Italian-America who genuineness believes that he isn't a racist.
Spike Lee's motivation behind Do the Right Thing was inspired by the notorious 1985 incident in Howard Beach, Queens, where Italian-American youths assaulted three young black men near a neighborhood pizzeria. One of the victims, Michael Griffith, was struck and killed by a passing car while fleeing from his attackers. Do the Right Thing was dedicated to the memory of Griffith and other victims of racist violence.
The Bible says, "Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin" (James 4:17). This is a very powerful warning about doing the right thing. The point I would like to make is, if you are going to learn to do the right thing, you must take responsibility for your own actions. Even at your current age and stage of life, it is not too late for you to ask God to give you the courage to do the right thing. I pray to God with all of my might that if I find myself in a particular situation or if I witness a particular situation that He would give me the courage to do the right thing.
You must understand that God has a plan for your life, but Satan has many plans for your life too. You must choose whose plan that you desire to follow and the choice is up to you. Satan will use evildoers to device evil schemes that will lead to the demise of the godly, because he wants the evil to rise above the good. God will use people that desire to do good to design strategies that will truly lead to the rise of good and the demise of evil.
Allow me to give you a perfect example of God's divine guidance and care over our lives. God's power and sovereignty is seen throughout the Bible, especially the Book of Esther. The Book of Esther tells of the circumstances that were essential as the survival of God's people in Persia. These circumstances were not the result of chance, but of God's grand design. God is sovereign over every area of our lives. To give context to Esther's story, please remember that God's plan for His people had been sidetracked by His people serving idol gods, so God punished them by allowing their enemies to take them into captivity. But God had a plan for them, He would bring them back home from captivity.
Esther's story begins in 483 B.C., 103 years after Nebuchadnezzar had taken the Jews into captivity (2 Kings 25), 55 years after Zerubbabel led the first group of exiles back to Jerusalem (Ezra 1, 2), and 25 years before Ezra led the second group to Jerusalem (Ezra 7). Esther parents must have been among those exiles that chose to return back to Jerusalem. The Jewish exiles had great freedom in Persia, formerly called Babylon.
Ahasuehus, also called Xerxes the Great, was Persia's fifth king. He threw a great celebration and invited all of his governors, aides, and army officers. The celebration lasted six months. When it was all over, the king gave a special party for the palace servants and officials. Queen Vashti gave a party for the women of the palace at the same time, so on the final day when the king was feeling high, half drunk from wine, he told the seven eunuchs to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head so that all the men could gaze upon her beauty. The queen refused, so the king dethroned her and ordered her out of his sight forever.
But after King Ahasuerus' anger had cooled down, he regretted his decision about Vashti and his aides suggested they would find the most beautiful girls in the empire and bring them to the king for his pleasure. The winner turned out to be named Hadassah (also called Esther), who was Mordecai's young cousin. Esther pleased the king so much that he placed the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti.
Mordecai became a government official and one day while he was on duty at the palace, two of the king's eunuchs plotting to assassinate him. So Mordecai passed the information on to Queen Esther who told the king, crediting Mordecai with the information (Esther 2:21-23). Question? What should an honorable person do with moral convictions, when he or she know about a scheme to do harm someone? Should they speak up or remain silent? So did Mordecai do the right thing when he told Esther about the plot? Absolutely, yes!
This incident plays a very important role in the unfolding drama, as seen in the next intriguing episode in the evil plot as Satan rear his ugly head in Esther 3:1-6. Why should the schemes of Satan not be surprising? Remember Satan tried to kill all the male babies in Egypt to stop God's plan of redemption from being carried out by Moses. Satan was behind Herod's edict to kill male babies born during the time of Jesus Christ to stop God's plan of redemption from being carried out by Jesus. Satan used Haman to move against all of Mordecai's people, the Jews, and destroy all of them throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus. He was not successful. Satan never stops trying to stop God's plan.
As a Christian you are aware that there are Haman-like haters in our world who seek to hurt and shame us for not embracing a paganistic lifestyle. Paganism is a term that covers a great number of spiritual and religious beliefs, and someone who follows one of these beliefs is known as a Pagan. Some of those in ancient times, who are called Pagans today, believed there was not just one god but a number of gods and goddesses.
As a Christian you must love people the agape way, the way God loves us and therefore He gave His only Son to die for us to save us from the wages of sin and to offer us the gift of eternal life. We have to reject choices that are contrary to God's will, and we must persuade others that are living sinful lifestyles to turn from ungodly ways and turn to God the Father whose love is greater that their sins.
Mordecai decided to take a stand by his conviction, because it was the right thing to do. So we must do the same thing. He did so despite any possible negative consequences. So must we. Mordecai took a firm stand for what was right over what was wrong. So must we. As Christians, doing the right thing is not an occasional moral thing. It is a way of life. You can not pick and choose when you do what is right, because we must take the high road each and every time, regardless of the circumstances or the consequences.
When all seems lost, it isn't. When no one seems to notice or care, God does. When everything seems to be going great for our enemies, it isn't. When nothing seems just, it is. There is a time when we must risk all for God. There are certain times when we must put it all on the line for the Lord. This requires great courage and character, but it is always worth it. The consequences of doing nothing are always greater than that of doing the right thing. Remember this, God will get His work done with you or without you. So it is always better to do the right things, because doing the right thing pleases God.
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