Welcome!
Passage: Nehemiah 1 (NIV 84)
Today: Dangerously asleep?
3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” 4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. (Neh 1, NLT) emphasis added
When Nehemiah heard about the situation of the walls of Jerusalem, he sat down and wept. It was heart-breaking for him.
Nehemiah had a top job with the king; he was so close to the king. But he was also a committed believer in God, as he was committed to his job
The situation of the church and the nation today, is not very different from that of the walls of Jerusalem during Nehemiah’s time. The walls are broken. Wrong people are in and right people are out. Someone need to take steps to fix it!
Nehemiah sat down and wept. We are so busy to sit. Many of us come home from work, and have only time to sleep; from standing, we go straight to sleeping!
While it is true that we need to work and earn, and that we have many other responsibilities, it is important to find time to sit in God’s presence
We better acknowledge that God is the reason for all that we have
God looks at us a watches our response to the situation of the church and the land. If we are like “I don’t care and there is nothing I can do about it”, God may do the same to us: “I don’t care and there is nothing much I can do for him/her”!
If that is okay with us, we can continue our sleep until someone comes and ….
But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. 6 So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.” (Jonah 1, NLT) – emphasis added
Isaiah 60: 1-7, Mat 26: 35-45 (NIV 84)
This is not the time to sleep! In the middle of his sleep, Jonah was thrown into the water. It was better for him to be awake at that time. Were there no life-boats in that ship so that they could put him in? I don’t know!
It’s so shocking that we can sleep nicely, when all around us are crying!
Peter and others slept, when their master was taken to be crucified!
The church does that. Don’t blame others. We pay, if we don’t pray and act
May God give you a blessed day!
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I have been a good friend of Jonah many a time, choosing to not worry about what was going on, and sleeping when I should have been awake and praying. Help me Lord, to watch and pray and act, more than ever; Amen
It may be Jesus himself or other people/incidents; someone will wake you up, if Jesus wants you!