Giving what God has given!

Nehemiah gathers all the people together and then the leaders have Ezra, the priest, bring out the Book of the Law of Moses.  Ezra stands before the people and reads it to them.  Other priests and Levites were scattered throughout this large crowd to explain to the people what was being read.  For about six hours straight Ezra reads from the Book of the Law of Moses and explains to the people what it means to their lives.  This is a preacher’s dream, several thousand people standing eagerly waiting to hear what God’s word has to say.  And they stood there for six hours.  That is incredible.

This has a tremendous effect on the people as they weep after hearing what the word of God says and after hearing what it means to each of them individually.  Nehemiah tells the people not to weep but to celebrate.  They are to rejoice in their knowledge of God, not weep.

Nothing in this life is as powerful or wonderful as the word of God.  It has the power to free people from lives of bondage and misery.  It has the ability to bring sight and hearing to the spiritually blind and deaf.  God’s word is the source of joy and joy in the LORD is our strength as it says a couple of verses after our verse of the day.

As leaders of families, ministries, or churches it is our responsibility to help people discover this joy just as the priests and Levites did in Nehemiah’s day.  God’s word has the same power today as it did then.  It still has the power to bring people down from their prideful towers and to bring people up from their pitiful dungeons.  We need to help them to hear and to understand.  Of course, not everyone wants to hear or understand but we need to try to help them to anyway.

This means that we need to have a deep love for and desire to learn about the word of God.  God doesn’t need us to be experts in His word for us to share with others.  He doesn’t need us to be theologians.  He doesn’t need us to have memorized the entire New Testament.  All He needs is students.  All God needs is for you to desire to learn about God’s word and then He will even help you to do that.  Then He is going to ask you to share what you are learning with others.  The others that He wants you to share it with are all those who can hear you.  Wherever He has placed you is where He wants you to share what He is teaching you.  Only Ezra got to share from the pulpit, all the rest were amongst the people.  Jesus, help us to love what you are teaching us so much that we must share it with those you have surrounded us with.

Read Nehemiah 7:73-9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:1-18; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 21:11-12