Reform means that there was already something before that had been broken and will just be “re-formed.” Many times, we develop bad habits; if we tolerate these bad habits, it will continue and we will have a hard time changing them even when we know that it goes against the word of God.
Our bad habits affect our nation.
Nehemiah asked the people of Israel to renew their covenant with God.
THE COVENANT THAT THE ISRAELITES RENEWED WITH GOD.
Nehemiah was not a religious figure. He was just a lay person but he did his part in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He let the word of God play an important role in his life and it affected his nation.**
Our bad habits affect our nation.
Nehemiah asked the people of Israel to renew their covenant with God.
THE COVENANT THAT THE ISRAELITES RENEWED WITH GOD.
Intermarriages.“We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons” Nehemiah 10:30.God did not want the Israelites to intermarry because they might follow the ways and values of other nations. Solomon, the wise king of Israel, was influenced to sin by his foreign wives (Nehemiah 13:26).
We have the tendency to conform to the world. Paul, the apostle, warns in a letter to the church of Corinth not to be yoked with unbelievers and to the Romans not to be conformed with the patterns of the world.“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”
2 Corinthians 6:14.“Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will”Keeping the Sabbath.
Romans 12:2.“When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every seventh year we will forego working the land and will cancel all debts” Nehemiah 10:31.Sabbath means a day of rest and worship. It means making God your top priority.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matthew 6:33.
Taking care of the Temple.“We assume the responsibility for carrying out the commands to give a third of a shekel each year for the service of the house of our God: for the bread set out on the table; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals; for the holy offerings; for sin offerings to make atonement for Israel; and for all the duties of the house of our God”
Nehemiah 10:32-35.“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. ‘But you say, “How do we rob you?” In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – the whole nation of you –because you are robbing me“ Malachi 3:8-9.
LIVE THE WORD. CHANGE THE WORLD.
Nehemiah was not a religious figure. He was just a lay person but he did his part in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He let the word of God play an important role in his life and it affected his nation.**
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