Friday, October 4, 2013

Bible Study
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Reference:  Nehemiah 4:6

Topic:  “Get Your Head in the Game”

The lesson aim is to show that there is always an action associated with the “work” of God.  More importantly, the “work” has to become part of our everyday life.  The “work” should not be segregated from our personal lives, but integrated into our daily routines. Whatever work we’ve been called to perform must have our full attention. 

Nehemiah and the children of Israel were under attack from the outside.  Sanballat and Tobiah expressed their anger and discontentment about the “work” that was being initiated in Jerusalem. The enemy will always try to throw you off balance and disrupt your game plan.  However, as offensive players in the game of life we must learn to read the defense.  The art of the game is to keep the defense from preventing you from reaching the goal.  One of the most common tactics of the opposition is to get into the mind of the players, thereby becoming a distraction. Those who win the game are those that play the game with excellence.  Those who win in the spirit realm are those that follow the instructions recorded in Psalms 37:5 and Proverbs 16:3.  The term “commit” connects our desires to God’s will.

I can appreciate the fact that the text does not focus on the condition of the people’s hearts or minds prior to Nehemiah’s arrival.  We know that the people were in “great affliction and reproach”.  According to Hanani’s report, the people had lost their desire to rise above their circumstances.  Nonetheless, something powerful takes place between chapter 1 and chapter 4, “transformation”.  During the transformation process, Nehemiah conveys to all the people God’s plan for Jerusalem. (Read: Nehemiah 2:12)  Nehemiah’s spirit became contagious. 

Subsequently, Nehemiah 4:6 is a summarization of the people’s attitude toward the visible enemy.  Through deductive reasoning we can conclude that our commitment to the “work” has to be from the heart.  Otherwise, the enemy will work to create fear in our hearts and cause the work to slow down or even cease.  The heart is the control center for spiritual maturity and the mind records and executes the protocol for spiritual renewal.  (Read: Psalms 51)  The people’s mind toward God had been restored and their confidence in God’s ability had been rekindled. Thus, the “work” was a manifestation of their commitment to the God-centered plan that Nehemiah presented.

References:


Psalms 110:3; II Corinthians 8:15-17; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 13:21