047M Nehemiah and the Wall To any of you entrusted with the Lord’s work, please consider this story. Some 400 years before Christ, Nehemiah, a prominent Jew in Persia, learned that his people in Jerusalem suffered terribly. The walls of the city were broken down, and his people a shame among men. Well, he took the matter to the King who then gave him leave to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city’s wall. Now, that wall was not only the people’s protection, but it was also a symbol of their identity and solidarity as a people. It had to be rebuilt, or the Jews could not be a nation! Nehemiah traveled to Jerusalem and surveyed the walls. They were gone – just piles of rubble, and the great gates burned to ash. He gathered his beleaguered people, and said, “…come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.” (Nehemiah 2:17) Inspired, they answered with a will, “…Let us rise and build…” (Nehemiah 2:18). As the Jews went to work, however, their enemies also went to work; they began to mock them. But the Jews paid them no mind. They continued to build until the wall was halfway up. Seeing this, their enemies became more vicious in their opposition, forcing the Jews to set guards. (See Nehemiah 4) The greatness of the task wore them down. There was so much stone rubble to be moved and rebuilt, and now they had to work, as it were, with a tool in one hand and a sword in another. It became so dangerous that while half of the men labored on the wall, the other half stood guard over their brethren. They would work by day and stand guard by night. Finally, when the Samaritans, the enemies, saw they could not stop the work by force, they resorted to stratagem. Messengers were sent to Nehemiah requesting a meeting. They found him on the wall hard at work. Upon hearing their request, Nehemiah said – and this is it, “…I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3). Within 52 days that wall was done! Now, this is how we must see it. We too are doing a ‘great work’ and must not leave it for lesser things. Let the hounds of hell yap if they will. Whether our part of the wall is the nursery or the presidency – no matter – God needs you! Glenn Rawson – November 2010 Music: Life Path (edited) – Free Music Tracks Song: Great things and small things – Steven Kapp Perry Chorus soundsofsunday
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 06:13:48 +0000
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