- These are the chiefs of the province who lived in Jerusalem; but in the towns of Judah everyone lived on his property in their towns: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the temple servants, and the descendants of Solomon’s servants. Nehemiah 11:3 – Certainly a difficult chapter to read through due to it being almost completely a list of Old Testament names, the power behind who those names were is special. We are seeing the city of Jerusalem finally in a place of health again, something it hadn’t been for a long time. The Temple was rebuilt, the city walls were rebuilt, and homes were now being built to actually make this place a populated city again. Yet there is a key ingredient to making a city populated…people. What we are seeing though is that people weren’t rushing to be first in line to live in Jerusalem. While rebuilt, there was still a lot of work to do. It also meant leaving your established home wherever that was and moving to a place where enemies were still targeting. The city though needed people, and who were the first to step up to the call? The leaders of the people. They weren’t about to ask the people to do something they weren’t willing to do themselves. Here is a valuable lesson for those who are leaders and those who look up leaders. When a challenge comes within a season, the leader should be the one willing to be the first to step in a navigate it. When leaders avoid challenges and conflict, or they force others to handle it for them so they don’t have to, that is the sign of an unhealthy leader and organization. The example set for us here in scripture is leaders leading. Leaders saw the challenge and were willing to be first in line. And for those who aren’t leaders, know our role then is to follow the leader and be their support as they are first in line with the challenge. Together is how we move through challenges. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3408
- And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:2 – This chapter retells for us all who chose to stay and live in the rebuilt city of Jerusalem. Our verse speaks highly of the leaders who willingly offered to live there. Why did they speak so highly of them like this? What they were choosing to do, to stay and continue building and growing the holy city, wasn’t going to be easy. They would be changing everything about their lives and as they had already encountered, there was to be great opposition to their work. They chose to stay and chose to keep building. Know just like the people in our passage, God sees the sacrifices that you are making in order to pursue Him faithfully. He sees the challenges you face and the offerings you willingly give. Keep up the good work knowing that it’s not unseen by God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1293
- Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. And the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem the holy city, while nine out of ten remained in the other towns. 2 And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:1-2 – Our chapter gives us the names of the individuals that stayed in Jerusalem. From our passages, we’re seeing a tone that it wasn’t the preferred thing to remain in Jerusalem. They had to cast lots on who would stay, and whoever willing offered to stay the rest of the people blessed and were grateful for. Yet why would there have been this reluctance to staying in the holy city of Jerusalem? Because it meant a lot of work still. Yes, some big pieces like the temple and the city wall was up, but the city was far from thriving. On top of that, the surrounding peoples of Jerusalem were enraged at the city being rebuilt and were constantly threatening the city and it’s people. Staying meant work. Often though the most worth it things in this life requires a staying to make things work. A marriage will need both people staying to make it work. A family needs people staying and working together to make it work. A church to see it reach what God is calling it to be will need people staying and working rather than leaving. The question then that ought to be asked of ourselves is am I willing to be one that remains and works or am I one that sees the future effort needed from me and checks out? Am I willing to stay in whatever isn’t finished yet in my life, even if it means work from me? Is it worth it to you? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2514
Daily DEVO 