PRIORITIZE

God's Word must be central to our lives to truly serve him.

Nehemiah 6:1-3, 15-16; 8:1-3, 5-8

As they rebuilt Jerusalem's walls, Nehemiah and the Jewish people learned the importance of focusing on God's Word.  Sometime during August/September, or September/October Nehemiah's enemies tried to distract him from his work.  They planned to harm him and were making up stories and offering false "peace talks" in order to lure Nehemiah out of Jerusalem and into their trap.  

Nehemiah ignored every advance of the enemy.  He kept his focus upon God's work and refused to be distracted by seemingly more noble purposes like peace or prosperity that were in reality traps and intimidations.


By staying single-mindedly focused Nehemiah and the Jewish people managed to repair and rebuilt the entire city wall in 52 days.  As a result, their enemies lost hard and and were intimidated by what the Jewish people through their focus upon God's work, were able to accomplish.  

What's even more astonishing is that from the time that Nehemiah first spoke with the Persian king he secured permission to travel, left Persia, arrived in Jerusalem, organized the people and completed that wall in six months.

Because of the increased security, more people were coming to the the city.  Nehemiah was eager to begin the spiritual restoration of the people once they accomplished their physical security.  The people asked for the Bible to be read and explained to them.  Remembering that the Bible was written in a language that many, if not most, of the people could understand (Hebrew instead of Persian) the Levites and the community leaders took the time to read the law and to translate or explain it.  They did this community Bible study for some 4 to 6 hours!

Law was key to establishing order within a community of humans, and now that the Jewish people were back in Jerusalem, now that they were able to secure and regulate their own city, now that they had completed what God had called them to do, they were ready to next learn how God directed them to live with one another.  The people respectfully and diligently paid attention to God's word.

Spiritual exercise, like physical exercise, needs planning and regular execution.  It is important for the people of God to read, study and implement the word of God in their lives and make such spiritual exercise a routine that is as important as any physical or entertaining exercise that they undertake.

God's Word must be central to our lives to truly serve him.