Some of my favorite reads online are the stories of dumb criminals.



Last week a masked man actually stood in line to rob a bank!



Police in Stow, Ohio, near Akron, say 24-year-old Feliks Goldshtein of
Highland Heights was arrested minutes after his mask-wearing episode on
Thursday, following a brief car chase.



Police say the teller asked the man to take off the mask before being
served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun
and told the teller to give him all the money.



Police Captain Rick Myers says it's unusual for a masked robber to wait
in line at a bank.



Goldshtein was being held at the Summit County Jail Friday on charges
of aggravated robbery and failure to comply with a police order. He had
an afternoon court appearance scheduled.



We're not dumb criminals, but we've all done dumb things. We've all
made foolish choices. Like King Xerxes in Esther chapter 1, which we
considered last week in the 1st part of this series, we've all been
angry, frustrated, depressed, and even misled by bitter advice, which
led us to make some pretty dumb decisions.



The question we'll answer this week from Scripture is "How do you make
good decisions?"



The book of Esther is a great read about two kinds of choices and two
kinds of people: people who make wise choices and people who make the
other kind. One of our goals in life should be to become people who
make good choices because a lot rides on the choices we make. The
course our life takes, to a large degree, depends on the choices we
make.



But before we get to the biblical view on this subject let's begin with
the decision-making track record of King Xerxes and what we can learn
from it. In chapter one of the book of Esther, Xerxes blew it when it
came to making a good decision. Let's pick up the story line on him in
chapter two of Esther.



Later, when King Xerxes was not so angry, he remembered Vashti and what
she had done and his order about her. 2 Then the king's personal
servants suggested, "Let a search be made for beautiful young girls for
the king. 3 Let the king choose supervisors in every state of his
kingdom to bring every beautiful young girl to the palace at Susa. They
should be taken to the women's quarters and put under the care of
Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the women. And let beauty
treatments be given to them.4 Then let the girl who most pleases the
king become queen in place of Vashti." The king liked this idea, so he
did as they said. Esther 2:1-4 (NCV)



Four years have passed since the events of chapter one. (Esther 2:16)
During this time Xerxes had been away on a military campaign against
the Greeks, lost, and had come home in humiliation. But he didn't have
a queen to come home to - because he had banished Vashti from his
presence. He regretted his rash actions but one of the quirky fine
points of Persian law was, once an order was enacted it could not be
rescinded. (Esther 1:19)



It's so good to know that God doesn't operate this way! He doesn't
always change the consequences of our actions but He does give us
second chances to make good choices! He works with us as we make new
and better choices.



Since the king can't undo his dumb decision to get rid of Queen Vashti,
his counselors suggest gathering the most beautiful women in the empire
to find a suitable replacement for her. They're probably quick to
suggest this because, if King Xerxes did try to buck the Persian
tradition of not allowing laws to be changed and Vashti was restored to
the thrown, they're gooses were probably cooked. They were the
nincompoops who recommended she be deposed. Which brings us to the
first precept on decision making.



1. Be cautious of advice from biased parties.



If you're going to make a major purchase don't take everything the
salesman says at face value. Read up on the item you're thinking about
purchasing. Read what consumer advocates are saying because they are
less biased.



Since we already talked about the foolishness of taking advice from
bitter people in the first installment of this series we won't expand
on this here. Just remember that it is always wise to consider the
source of your advice. Getting advice is good. Getting it from the
wrong source leads to failure.



2. Don't base decisions on outward appearances alone.



The recommendation of the king's advisers was to basically pick the
prettiest girl to be his next wife, not that we should mistake this
search for a new wife for the king as a beauty contest. These young
women were not willing participants and God didn't condone this
methodology. The Hebrew language suggests they were taken
involuntarily. Against their will they became a part of the royal
harem.



The only reason for choosing them given by the king's counselors was
that they were young and beautiful. (Verse 3) This is the mantra of
Hollywood and Madison Avenue today. Every actress, every model, needs
to be a "10" in order to qualify for inclusion into the select group of
idolized females in our culture. What a crock of baloney! And the sad
thing is so many Americans have bought in to this way of thinking.



God’s Word says,



3 It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make
you beautiful. 4 No, your beauty should come from within you—the beauty
of a gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very
precious to God. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NCV)



Yes, Esther was beautiful on the outside, just like the rest of the
young women chosen for this competition to be the next queen. But God
did not work behind the scenes in Esther's life to make her queen
because she was outwardly beautiful – but because of her good
character.



God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of
a person, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b (NCV)



What has happened in our culture today, not just with choosing a
spouse, but also making so many other vital decisions is that we have
been duped into believing that external appearances are the most
important. They're not. God wants us to look beneath the surface! What
lies below the skin? When we decide where to live, where to work, where
to worship, making major purchases and yes, relationships, these
decisions need to be on the basis of character, integrity and
principle, not window dressing.



The young women in this Persian marriage raffle were given cosmetics
and special diets so as to appear before the king with the very best
complexion – even if it had to be manufactured!



One lady said, "I smiled the other day when I came across the results
of a survey which found that 15% of the women questioned tinted their
hair, 22% wore false eyelashes, 38% periodically wore wigs or
hairpieces, 80% wore rouge or some kind of facial cosmetics, 93% used
nail polish, 98% wore some kind of eye makeup, and 100% voted in favor
of a resolution condemning any kind of false packaging.” (Carolina
Cooperator, in Quote Unquote, comp. Lloyd Cory, Wheaton, Ill.,
Scripture Press, 1977, p. 364)



If you want to make good choices – don't base your decisions on outward
appearance alone!



King Xerxes, along with his bitter and biased advisors, could teach a
clinic on how not to make good decisions.



On the other hand, there is a character in the book of Esther who
shines proper light on the topic - Mordecai.



5 Now there was a Jewish man in the palace of Susa whose name was
Mordecai son of Jair. Jair was the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.
Mordecai was from the tribe of Benjamin, 6 which had been taken captive
from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They were part of the
group taken into captivity with Jehoiachin king of Judah.7 Mordecai had
a cousin named Hadassah, who had no father or mother, so Mordecai took
care of her. Hadassah was also called Esther, and she had a very pretty
figure and face. Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter when her
father and mother died. Esther 2:5-7 (NCV)

Learn from Mordecai how to make good decisions.



3. Consider the needs of others.



Mordecai adopted Esther as his own daughter when her parents died. This
was a clearly selfless act. It was an act of love. Another mouth to
feed and another soul to watch over wouldn't have been easy in normal
times, let alone while living in exile in a foreign country.



How often do we make decisions based solely on what the outcome will
mean to us? Too often I'm afraid.



We've arrived at mature decision making when we take into consideration
the affects of our choices on others.



But Mordecai's example of making good choices doesn’t end here.



10 Esther did not tell anyone about her family or who her people were,
because Mordecai had told her not to. 11 Every day Mordecai walked back
and forth near the courtyard where the king's women lived to find out
how Esther was and what was happening to her. Esther 2:10-11 (NCV)



If I want to make good choices I must learn to…



4. Do the right thing at the right time.



Timing is very important in good decision making.



I've jumped ahead a few paragraphs in the story. By this time Esther
has been forced into the king's harem for consideration as queen.
Before ending up there, Mordecai had given her one valuable piece of
advice to not tell anyone that she was Jewish.



Current events tell us how much hatred exists toward the Jews even
today. One Palestinian woman in a Florida demonstration not long ago
screamed for Jews to go back to the oven, calling for the Jewish
counter-protesters to die in the manner that the Nazis used to
exterminate Jews during the Holocaust.



There were citizens in ancient Persia who had similar feelings toward
Jews so Mordecai wisely advised Esther to keep her ancestry private.



Later, a time would arise to divulge this information. But this wasn't
the right time.



A lot of bad decisions are made in life when we try to do the right
thing at the wrong time!



Moses is a classic biblical character with this problem. As an Egyptian
prince he wanted to intervene for the Jews but in rushing the plan of
God he murdered an Egyptian that was abusing a Jew. Later his timing
was off when he got frustrated with the rock that was supposed to
miraculously provide water in the desert. He hit the rock instead of
talking to as God had instructed. Bad decisions based on bad timing.



Bad timing is usually a matter of impatience and getting ahead of God's
timing. We make wrong choices financially a lot because we don't want
to wait to have what we want. We want to buy it now on credit when it
would be wise to wait and pay cash.



But our timing can be off in so many areas by rushing God. We can also
lag behind God and drag our feet when God wants us to move. Learning
good timing for decision making takes walking with God and trusting in
His leadership. Now one biblical precept of good decision making from
Esther herself.



5. Practice teachability.



Esther had been taken to the palace and given the year long beauty
treatments and she had become a favorite of the chamberlain in charge
of the young ladies being considered for queen of Persia. In fact the
Bible says about Esther,



The time came for Esther daughter of Abihail, Mordecai's uncle, who had
been adopted by Mordecai, to go to the king. She asked for only what
Hegai suggested she should take. (Hegai was the king's eunuch who was
in charge of the women.) Everyone who saw Esther liked her. Esther 2:15
(NCV)



Turns out the king liked her more than any of the other women in
consideration for the crown.



And the king was pleased with Esther more than with any of the other
virgins. He liked her more than any of the others, so he put a royal
crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Esther 1:17
(NCV)



What was it about Esther that made the king choose her? And it wasn't
just her beauty.



For one thing we know God was involved.



The Lord can control a king's mind as he controls a river; he can
direct it as he pleases. Proverbs 21:1 (NCV)



But don't think that God didn't use Esther's natural qualities in the
process. Don’t think that even though God is sovereign that He hasn't
also given us freedom to choose. God chooses people to carry out His
plans because He sees they have the right attitudes as well as
aptitudes. The quality that stands out most about Esther is her
teachability.



She was open to the suggestion of the king's chamberlain. We don't know
what he told her to take to her casting call: "Take this perfume, it's
the king’s favorite;" or, "Take your harp, he likes to be sung to." All
we know is it must have been good advice. And just as Esther had
followed Mordecai's advice earlier not to reveal her Jewish blood, she
now follows the chamberlain's advice.



We began our list of precepts on good decision making talking about
being cautious of bad advice (be cautious of the advice of bitter
people, people who have an axe to grind, people with an agenda). But
don't make the mistake of going to the other extreme and not be willing
to take any advice at all. Choose the right people from whom to take
advice but practice teachability.



Choose people who love you and have proven their willingness to make
sacrifices for you like Mordecai did Esther.



Choose people who have experience in an area like Esther chose the
king's chamberlain.



But don't make the mistake of thinking you don't have anything to learn
from others. (James 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5)



What training Esther must have had to have this spirit – this teachable
spirit! And surely this was one of the things that made her so
likeable.



Are we training our children and grandchildren to have this teachable
spirit? Are we a role model before them of someone with a teachable
spirit?



We'll make better choices in life when we learn to listen for advice
instead of going off as know-it-alls who can't be told anything new.



1. Be careful of taking advice from biased parties.

2. Don’t base your decisions solely on outward appearances.

3. Be considerate of the needs of others.

4. Do the right thing at the right time.

5. Practice teachability.



We've all made bad choices, bad decisions. But failure doesn't have to
be fatal. With the wisdom of God's Word we can turn things around. We
can enjoy the spiritual success of good decision making.



"Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crash
some years ago, once told about playing with his young son one
afternoon. They were tussling playfully on their front lawn when
Michalson accidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It
was a sharp blow full to his son's face.



"The little boy was stunned by the impact of the elbow. It hurt, and he
was just about to burst into tears. But then he looked into his
father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he saw there his
father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's love and
compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenly
burst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all the
difference!



The sharp blow of God's message to us is: Repentance. Change our minds
about the choices we make. Start being more wise in how we make our
decisions. God is not interested in hurting you. He's interested in
helping you.