If you wouldn’t mind reading this short chapter, I have a few thoughts for our devotion today. Even if you wanted to read the passage and then let it soak in you, and then tomorrow read the devotional, that’s even better.
 
Verses 1-4 tell us some things about Nehemiah’s heart. Remember, he had a pretty good life as a cupbearer to the king. He had prestige, influence, good pay. He was friends with the king and respected by all. The captivity had been good to him (as good as good could be) in the circumstances.
 
However, Nehemiah’s heart was for his people and his hometown. His heart was cast to the center of the Jewish culture…Jerusalem. The Temple was there, or at least supposed to be there.
 
The Temple was the wellspring of life that flowed out in all directions, after all, the presence of God was there. The place where God interacts with His people was the Temple. Not only was the Temple destroyed, the walls and the gates were burnt and laying in ruin.
 
Nehemiah wept and mourned for days. Nehemiah knew that without the epicenter of ritual and experiential fellowship with God in the Temple – the people of Israel had no culture and no future.
 
The Temple could not be effective without the people dwelling in safety and security. The walls and gates surrounded the people and surrounded the life they lived. This truly was the only way for the people of God.
 
True Temple worship no-longer exists. The reason is that Jesus has made obsolete the sacrificing of animals for the remission of sin by going to the cross on our behalf, Himself.
 
Hebrews 8:13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
 
The Temple is no longer the epicenter for religious activity, the local church is. And if we drill down even more, we could say that the individual congregant unified with the local church and the universal church is the epicenter of spiritual life.
 
Where the priest would trepidatiously enter the Holy of Holies where God dwelled, now God dwells within each person who accepts the gift of salvation that Jesus offers.
 
The local church gathered, is now the place where the wonders of God are distributed. However, much like the Temple of old, safety and security are paramount to effective churching. Nehemiah wept and mourned because the people were not in a safe condition to experience the presence of God. Sadly, many people today are not in a safe place to enter the presence of God either.
 
Is my church safe? The place where I am to connect with God in community with others, are the gates burnt and the walls broken down? Is there life here? Is their growth and the hope of a future together in our church?
 
Please look into the health of your church. Please pray about the health of your church. Make a point to inquire of your life, and see if the local church is your epicenter for life?
 
This is the method of distribution that Jesus has made and assigned to each of us to build. What part of it are you building?
 
Things break all the time. How about being on Nehemiah’s team and pick up a tool and help restore it, making the church safer and better.
 
Not all churches are broken or unsafe, but we have all been in them and we know how the enemy raids them, like he did to Jerusalem. We know how it feels to be in them.
 
Rather than being frustrated by what the ancestors have done to it, let’s make the local church shine with authentic functionality.
 
Father, I believe that You want us to be in safe and secure environments to grow spiritually. You want us to be in a position to hear Your Word and experience truth, together. Help us to see what You are doing to restore that which You love. Thank You Jesus for making all things possible through Your amazing sacrifice.

Blessings,

Pastor D