The Church that I attend is currently going through a series on Nehemiah. I have heard a few sermon series on Nehemiah, the man who was the servant/cupbearer for the king of Persia and convinced his master to give him a leave of absence and fund a trip from Susa to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls that had been knocked down. It is a tremendous example of what a person can do when God gives them a vision and they are willing to follow. Part of me always has always wondered, “would I have followed Nehemiah if I had lived in Jerusalem at that time?” I can imagine myself standing on the rubble of the wall and saying, “You think this wall will protect us? It has already been knocked down by one enemy! Don’t you remember Jericho? I hear they had a pretty nice wall! Did it protect them? Shouldn’t we spend more time getting our hearts right with God? Isn’t He the only thing that can really protect us?” I was reading in the book “My Time with God” (thanks Ed) the entry on page 14-15 and it had a reading from Nehemiah:
Nehemiah 9:3 (NIV)
3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God.
The people did have their hearts right before God. I am sure Nehemiah had to be attentive to God to even have the burden put on his heart. Having the right heart led them to the right actions. This got me thinking about our work, serving individuals with exceptional needs. “My Time with God” pairs this passage from Nehemiah with a passage form the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6:16-18 (NIV) 16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
We seek to provide quality care and a quality environment for those we serve for a number of reasons; we have been mandated to do it, it is the right thing to do, others will look favourably upon us if we do, we will lose our jobs if we don’t, to name a few. All of these are good reasons but they are all judged by humans. If we only focus on the opinions of those around us we could fool them as they might focus only on what they see as in the example of fasting from Matthew 6. We would be doing the right thing for the wrong reason. We would be trusting a wall to protect us. We are able to provide much better service when it is motivated by love that comes from God. By focusing on Him first we will be able to do the right things for the people we serve, for the right reasons, because they are His loved children made in His image.
Mark Wallace
Nehemiah 9:3 (NIV)
3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the LORD their God.
The people did have their hearts right before God. I am sure Nehemiah had to be attentive to God to even have the burden put on his heart. Having the right heart led them to the right actions. This got me thinking about our work, serving individuals with exceptional needs. “My Time with God” pairs this passage from Nehemiah with a passage form the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6:16-18 (NIV) 16 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
We seek to provide quality care and a quality environment for those we serve for a number of reasons; we have been mandated to do it, it is the right thing to do, others will look favourably upon us if we do, we will lose our jobs if we don’t, to name a few. All of these are good reasons but they are all judged by humans. If we only focus on the opinions of those around us we could fool them as they might focus only on what they see as in the example of fasting from Matthew 6. We would be doing the right thing for the wrong reason. We would be trusting a wall to protect us. We are able to provide much better service when it is motivated by love that comes from God. By focusing on Him first we will be able to do the right things for the people we serve, for the right reasons, because they are His loved children made in His image.
Mark Wallace
0 comments:
Post a Comment