God Remembers Us ‘According To The Greatness Of His Steadfast Love.’

Nehemiah 10:1-39

God is calling us to commit our lives to Him. At the heart of our commitment to the Lord, there must be worship: ‘We will not neglect the House of our God’(39). ‘Worship God’(Revelation 19:10). This is our reason for coming to the Lord’s House. We come to worship Him. Our worship is to be more than mere words. We worship God when we bring our offerings to Him. God’s people brought ‘the tithe’(tenth) to Him (37). We meet with the Lord when we worship in His House: ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven’. Through our giving - ‘Of all that You give me I will give You the tenth’- , let us express our commitment to the Lord - ‘the Lord will be my God’(Genesis 28:17,21-22).

Nehemiah 11:1-12:30

Like the walls of Jerusalem, our lives lay in ruins until Christ puts us together again. In Christ, our lives have been rebuilt. Now, we can ‘celebrate’. We can worship the Lord ‘with gladness’(12:27). We are to build our lives upon Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). This will not be easy. Our faith will be put to the test. Often, we will be tempted to take our eyes off Christ. We must keep our eyes on Him. He is the solid Rock upon which we must build (Matthew 7:24-27). Again and again, we must make our choice. We must choose Christ. We must choose to be ‘holy’. This is the choice which is ‘blessed’ by the Lord. ‘Many’ choose the ‘other’ way, the way of self. We must choose the way of the ‘few’, the way of Christ, the way of holiness and blessing (11:1-2; Matthew 7:13-14).

Nehemiah 12:31-13:31

God’s people sang ‘songs of praise and thanksgiving to God’. Where does the song of praise come from? - It comes from the Lord: ‘God had given them great joy’(46,43). Often, we seek our joy in other people and other things. We forget the Source of true joy - the Lord our God. God sees our self-centred way of life. He asks us to think about the way we’re living: ‘Why is the House of God forsaken?’(11). We have forgotten Him. Have we any right to expect Him to remember us? Time and time again, we have failed Him. Our many sins have given Him plenty of reasons for turning His back on us. Does He turn His back on us? No! He remembers us ‘according to the greatness of His steadfast love’(22) - He sent His Son to die for us. Let His great love fill you with great joy.