What are you truly willing to give up to serve God? Could you give up anything, everything, to serve him in a distant land? Or are you too comfortable now to go where he leads, to step out in faith in a new direction if he asked you to? Does the phrase “sacrificial service” scare you more than excite you?
Nehemiah was a man who struggled with these same questions. He had worked hard to rise high in the Persian Government. He was one of the closest advisers to the king himself. Nehemiah had wealth, power, influence. He wasn’t just comfortable – he had it made.
But Nehemiah had something of even greater worth to him – a love for God and a deep desire to serve him even above the king. Nehemiah was a man of God, a man of prayer, a man devoted to God’s Word. He had a passion to please God, and that passion made him a deeply spiritual man. It also made him open to God’s call, a call that was about to move him away from his life of comfort into a new life of excitement and opportunity. Would he really be willing to step out of his comfort zone?
The book of Nehemiah is the story of a man of influence and comfort leaving it all behind to go far away and face opposition, ridicule, hard work, and personal inconvenience to get a job done for the Lord and for his people. This is a book about a passion for prayer, for the Word of God, for renewal of personal devotion to the Lord. It is a book about sacrificial service – to Nehemiah’s people and to God. And it is a story about leadership – rallying God’s people to a greater sense of purpose and devotion.
Nehemiah is a sounding board for each of us when we glibly speak of serving God “sacrificially.” The keynotes are simple, yet profound. Sacrificial service involves personal sacrifice, giving up something we treasure in order to do God’s work, even in a climate of ridicule, rejection, and hardship. For some, it is leaving the comforts of home and the wider family to serve God on a mission field. For others, it is sacrificing personal comfort to serve God in the homeland. For still others, it is giving sacrificially so that others can go and serve. When we think of sacrificial service, we have much to learn from Nehemiah.
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Help us make the biggest sacrifice of giving up ourselves, so that we can know you. Jesus said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” (Matthew 10:39) Lord, help us give up those selfish pleasures and desires, so we can live a full life with you! We love you!
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER.
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