Saturday 22 Jul 2017

July 22: Nehemiah 13:15-22

Key Verse: Nehemiah 13:17
I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day?

Devotion:
Do you struggle to find the courage to do things against the flow of everyone else? I'm not talking about doing things wrong when everyone else is doing the right thing – that seems to come quite easy! I am talking about standing up for what is right when everyone else is doing things wrong... It is very hard to find that sort of inner strength and be able to stand up against the crowd sometimes. It may be all your friends are in the crowd and you don't want to go against them – but standing up for God is something we have to do and we need to set the example so that others will not be afraid to follow us!

Nehemiah stood up against the whole city and forced them to think about what they were doing on the Sabbath day instead of giving it over to God. The Sabbath was their day of rest and God had commanded they respect Him by obeying the commandments: “Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” God wanted man to do what He had done during the creation of everything. He had a day of rest so He could think of everything He had done. God wants us to have a day of rest from our labours so we can remember Him. A Day set aside to do just that – remember Him. A day we need to keep Holy so we can stay close to God.

But our lives now are much the same as the time Nehemiah was facing then. He was facing people who were not regarding the Sabbath as holy any more. They had forgotten the true meaning of setting aside time for God. They needed a reminder. Nehemiah was that reminder and he stood up to everyone to make a point. We need to stand up and be counted on Sundays now to show people we do hold a day aside to remember what Jesus has done for us and to remember that He died and rose from the dead for our sakes.

Points to Ponder:
Do you give time to your friends and family?

How much time do you give to God?