Today’s Reading Nehemiah 12-13
Focal Scripture: Nehemiah 13:11 “Therefore, I rebuked the officials, asking, “Why has the house of God been neglected?” I gathered the Levites and singers together and stationed them at their posts.”
To often in the midst of busyness the house of God can be neglected. This is where we find Nehemiah at the end of the book. Everyone is busy doing other tasks. People are remembering sins of others. Priests are not performing their duties and others are forgetting what they have been commanded to do for the Lord.
From this it is clear that the people have a difficult time following the commands and decrees of God. They know what to expect. They know how to handle the temple and sacrifices. They understand the expectations for Nehemiah. However, instead of having hearts bent towards following God and making sure his temple is taking care of they do the opposite. Nehemiah was the only one who was consumed with making sure the House of God was looked after on a daily basis.
So what does this mean for believers today. We have to be careful or we can find ourselves in a worked based religion. It could become legalistic and miss the heart of what God wanted for his people. So what did God want from his people. He wanted their hearts. He wanted them to worship him in spirit and truth. He wanted their all in worship. That meant at home and when they went to the House of God.
The same applies to us also. God wants our hearts and souls when it comes to worship. He wants us to worship at church and he wants us to worship when we are away from church. It should be an attitude that pleases the Lord. This means that how one lives should not look different at church or at home. It should not look different at work then it does in a Bible study. We do not need to neglect worship. We must learn to be consistent.
Afterall this was the problem the Jewish people had consistently. They were not on a path where their hearts and souls were given to God. They wanted to live how they wanted and claim their religion when it was convenient.
I challenge you to be different like Nehemiah and worship God in everything you do. It will make a difference.
Tomorrow I plan on reading Esther 1-5
