I was continuing to read more of Nehemiah for my morning devotional. This book has continued to be an eye-opening book for me to learn more about Nehemiah and his importance to the word of God. One thing I really enjoyed was reading through chapter 8 of Nehemiah and the insight that gives me to the character of Nehemiah and all those in Israel.
This chapter starts to describe a big feast and a celebration the people of Jerusalem were having. They were having this feast because they had just completed alterations and the rebuilding of the wall. Originally, one of the goals of Nehemiah was to go to Jerusalem and to help rebuild the wall after many people had decided to destroy it, therefore leaving Jerusalem and the temple open to many more attacks from other countries. Nehemiah and his men of workers were victims of a lot of evil people trying to discourage and to hurt them through this process, but through God’s strength, they were able to persevere.
The people were enjoying the food and the camaraderie of others. However, the big piece of this party or feast was the reading of God’s Word. The people sat around and listened. However, as we later find out, we find people listen for the majority of the whole day, and not only that, but they came back for more each and every day. They did this for roughly 7 days straight to listen to the word of God. These people were loving every moment of the community and the praise they were receiving from being with Christ.
I think this can be a very important thing to note. Sometimes, we as people can only care about hearing God’s Word for a short period of time. For example, to be honest, sometimes we can only care about church being one hour long. Maybe we can handle an hour and a half, but how many of us would be frustrated if church ended up being three hours long. I know I have been frustrated when church has gone on longer than I anticipated . I have been especially bad on the days when I feel as though I have a lot to do, and I start to get overwhelmed in the middle of church. I can constantly be checking the time to make sure I will get out with enough time to do all the things I had originally planned.
We as a society do struggle with this because of our constant distractions in our life. We have a lot of things that now distract our minds. This can be our phones, the activities we are all involved in, work priorities, and even our church duties or volunteering opportunities. There are a lot of things each person is doing constantly.
This actually does bring to mind my mentee’s church. I have gone to church with her a few times to watch her perform in the church choir. One thing I did notice about her church was people did not care how long the church was. They were there to worship and to sing solos, say what God has been doing in their life. Her church service was at least 2 ½ to 3 hours long. The people had the greatest amount of joy amidst the church walls. Then they often would convent together afterwards for a meal.
One verse I wanted to highlight was John 4:23-24 which says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” This verse is a good reminder that God does appreciate those who are worshiping him. God wants us to worship him in both spirits in truth, which I would say means he wants us to both worship him in regard to the Bible and His words as well as worshiping him in the Holy Spirit.
There are a few different options for a challenge this week. The first one is to put away your phones during church. I know, I use my phone for my Bible app like a lot of other people do. However, if you find you are also very distracted by the time and thinking about when church will be getting out, then I think this will be a good challenge for you. I know I will be participating at least once or twice. If bringing a phone to church is not something you really struggle with, then it is important to maybe spend a good couple of hours, or don’t even care about the time frame, in worshiping the Lord.
Colossians 3:23 Blog 