Nehemiah 10-11

(September 30, 2014)

                Here we see great counsel from Nehemiah on what we each need to do in order to grow and move closer to the Lord.  Nehemiah praises the people for separating themselves from the people of the lands unto the Law of God.  The people were not physically separated – we can see that from the other people they interact with and the commands not to purchase goods on the Sabbath.  But while they were not physically separate, they did separate themselves spiritually – instead of adopting the cultures of the surrounding community they chose to follow God’s Law.

                We have a culture and a community around us, even here in the center of the Church.  The culture is not the Church, and the culture is often in opposition to the Law of God.  It is a good culture, but in the case of culture good is the enemy of discipleship.  We must look within ourselves to see those areas of our lives where we have adopted the cultures around us and determine instead what the Law of God has to say about these things – and chose the Law of God and understanding rather than culture.