Fri.’s Devo - New Life in Jerusalem

Read: Nehemiah 11!-12:26; 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:2; Psalm 34:11-22; Proverbs 21:14-16
The leaders settled in Jerusalem and they chose, by lot, one out of every ten of the people to live there also. Anyone who volunteered could live in Jerusalem. Some of the priests and Levites chose to live in their own towns as the Levites were to be scattered throughout the people.
We have a list of the people from Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, the Levites, and the gatekeepeers who settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people went back to live in the land of their ancestors.
Zerubbabel and Jeshua had helped Nehemiah lead these people from Babylon to Jerusalem and finish the walls. Haggai and Zechariah both prophesied during this time and encouraged Zerubbabel and Jeshua in what they had come to Jerusalem to do and now it was done. It had to be a great feeling to have accomplished so much out of nothing. God had given them the promise that it is not by their power or might that this would be accomplished but by God’s Spirit.
The priests were assigned their order of service and the leaders of the Levites stood opposite one another singing and responding to each other as David had written they should do. Everyone did their task and there was safety and order.
In Corinthians, Paul addressed eating meat offered to idols. We don’t face that in our culture so let’s just take the example and look at what Paul was saying to us.
He is telling us that if we have a question about whether something is wrong or right, it is better not to do it. Some things fall in the gray area and we should choose the light, not the gray. It is better not to defile our own conscience or the consciences of others just because we can.
Paul sums it up with this: Do everything you do for God’s glory and don’t cause other people to stumble. It goes back to the fact that our lives are not our own because we have been bought with a price. Our two commandments are to love God with all our heart and our neighbor as Christ loved him. It is a tall order but that is what grace it for; it makes it possible.
Lord, help us to live our lives in honor of You.