Daily Reading: Nehemiah 13
What is this evil thing that you are doing? (Nehemiah 13.17)
Devotional Thought: The people of Israel, just one chapter before, were “rejoicing with great joy” in Jerusalem. Their protective wall had been completed and dedicated, the priests and Levites had been purified – and the people, the gates, and the walls of Jerusalem along with them. Nehemiah rejoiced also – God had accomplished all of this miraculously! Now the Israelites, God’s chosen nation, would trust God and serve him faithfully all the days of their lives. Right?
Flip the page to chapter 13 and we read about Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem after visiting King Artaxerxes. Putting it mildly, Nehemiah is angered by how quickly the people have descended back into their sinful ways. They have desecrated and forsaken the house of God, profaned the Sabbath, and made themselves unclean in any number of ways. Nehemiah’s actions may seem extreme to us, but he is right to be angry at God’s people and to confront them for their sinful behavior.
We may marvel at Israel’s unfaithfulness, but an honest assessment of our own hearts will reveal the same inclinations. There are times when we marvel at God’s goodness, his faithfulness, his mercy and his grace. Then, just like Israel, we fall back into doubt, apathy, and self-reliance. At this point in Israel’s history, Nehemiah responded by setting everything right again. Again and again God would warn his people through the judges and prophets, only to have them fall back into sin. It seemed that God’s chosen people were hopeless. But then one night, in a small town near Jerusalem, a baby was born to a virgin girl. This baby was the promised Messiah, the one who would enter the Most Holy Place “once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption,” (Hebrews 9.12). Praise God!
Jenny
Prayer: Lord, thank you for not leaving us to our own devices, our own cleverness, our own abilities to achieve the righteousness that you require of us. We love you for sending your Son, Jesus, to save us when we couldn't save ourselves.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 108:1-6
1 My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
3 I will praise you, LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
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