A Man Who Cares

Hey everyone, last time I wrote about Nehemiah and how he rebuilt the walls in eight weeks that had lay in ruin for over a hundred years.  Now I want to start looking at Nehemiah and what he did to make this happen.

In the opening of the book, Nehemiah is in Susa, the capital of the Persian empire.  He asks his brother Hanani about the condition of Jerusalem.  Hanani had just come from there and reports three things about Jerusalem.  First, the people there live in great trouble and disgrace.  Second, the walls are broken down and third, the gates have burned with fire.  After hearing this new, Nehemiah sits down and weeps. 

Understand that Nehemiah had risen to an important position in the Persian government.  It had been generations since the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been carried off into exile.  Nehemiah was likely born in Persia, and it is possible that he had never been to Jerusalem.  Yet when he hears this news he sits down and weeps and mourns for several days for his homeland.  Even though he had attained a place of prominence in Susa, he did not consider Susa home, nor had he allowed his heart to be assimilated into the more dominant Persian culture.  God's people lived in God's city unprotected, without walls or gates, and Nehemiah cared deeply.  He mourned, fasted and prayed for several days.  Do you think Nehemiah would have accomplished what he did had he not cared so much?  I'm inclined to think that he would not.  It was this concern that prompted everything that followed, the prayer, the hard work, everything.

As I examine Nehemiah and look at what he did that enabled him to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem, I have to ask myself, "How much do I care?"  Is my concern for God's people prompting me to pray?  Is it motivating me to work hard?  God has placed each one of us in a ministry.  In my case, it is the Youth and Family Ministry.  As a high school teacher, I walk the same hallways that our teenagers do, and I can say that our teens walk around in a culture where the spiritual walls have been broken down and the spiritual gates have been burned by fire.  They need help to build their own spiritual walls and gates to have protection from the onslaught that the world is bringing at them.  I feel the challenge of this and I want to help.  I want to help our teens as individuals, and I want work alongside my co-builders to help make our ministry here in New Jersey great.   

OK, so we can see Nehemiah begins with concern over the people of God and a burning desire to do fix the situation.  So we will continue form here to see what his concern prompted him to do.