Sat.’s Devo - Choose Love

Read: Nehemiah 5:14-7:73a; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Psalm 33:1-11; Proverbs 21:8-10 Nehemiah was the governor of Judah for 12 years. He never took a food allowance even though the governor before him had taken a large one at the expense of the people. Nehemiah feed his officers and visiting dignitaries out of his own salary because he feared God. Instead of acquiring land for himself, he devoted his time and effort toward building the wall. When Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem found out they had finished rebuilding the wall and that all they had to do was to set up the doors in the gates, they sent a message asking to meet with Nehemiah at one of the villages. He saw through their lies and found out they wanted to lure him away to harm him. He refused to meet with them. They sent four messages and the fifth time, the message came verbally. They accused the Jews of planning a rebellion against the king and Nehemiah would be their new king. Nehemiah told them it was all lies and kept working. Next they tried infiltrating from the inside. Shemaiah asked to meet Nehemiah in side the Temple and hide because his enemies were coming that night to kill Nehemiah. Nehemiah realized his enemies had hired him to say that so they could accuse him of trying to save his own life. He refused to hide. Each time, Nehemiah would pray that God would remember all he had done and all his enemy had done against him. In all the efforts to stop the work, the wall was completed in 52 days. Many of the nobles of Judah had sided with Tobiah because of his family name. They tried to convince Nehemiah that Tobiah was a good man even though at the same time, Tobiah was sending threatening letters to Nehemiah. Once the wall was set up and the doors were in the gates, Nehemiah appointed gatekeepers and singers. He gave the governorship to Hanani and Hananiah. Hanani was his brother and Hananiah was the commander of the fortress who was a man who feared God more than most. He told the gatekeepers not to keep the gates open but to shut and bar them and set up guards of the residents. Jerusalem was large but the population was sparse and the houses had not been rebuilt so God told him to take the genealogical records of the first who returned to Judah and compare it to the people who lived there now. It was the same list as in Ezra 2 but the numbers had changed as people had died and babies born. By taking another census he was giving the people a sense of identity. They were reminded of who they were and how much had been given to God’s work so they would be reminded of its importance. In Corinth, they had had a discussion about eating meat offered to idols. In the pagan temple, part of your offering was not offered on the altars but given back to the priests or the people themselves. They would resell the meat or offer it at parties etc. Paul told his followers not to eat this meat but he told them to choose love above all the judgment. There was only one God and they had chosen to follow him. The ones who worshipped idols were worshiping the wind. Paul knew that eating meat offered to idols was a farce and it didn’t matter because he put no power in their God. Meat was meat. But to others, this was a great offense so he was trying to encourage them to honor one another’s beliefs. If it offended someone else, you should not do it in front of them or maybe not at all. Lord, help us to choose love today. May we love our enemies and those who persecute us. Thank you for the leaders who stand for truth and what is right.