I want to open up this post with an honest confession, I hate change. I am a routine guy. This is funny, because I have learned in ministry, the only routine is there is seldom a routine. Things can change in a hurry. Just because it happens, doesn’t mean I always like it though. However, it has been those times in my life when God has changed something that I have grown the most. Why? Because it taught me how to trust Him even more. It showed me that God is going to be there, and He is going to take care of me as I lovingly obey Him. In today’s text, we are going to see that some people had their lives turned upside down in a way. It wasn’t something that most people wanted to do. In fact, they had to cast lots, think of rolling dice, to get most people to make this change.
The walls of Jerusalem have been built, the Temple has been dedicated, the people have been consecrated. Everything looks to be going well. However, there was a problem. Jerusalem wasn’t occupied. It is hard to be a capital city and the center of your religion when there are no people living in that place. Up to this point, the people had been living outside of Jerusalem. They had settled into their communities and into their lives. Let’s be honest, how many of us want to just pick up and move everything and start all over? People were so reluctant, they had to cast lots so that ten percent of the people would move and live in Jerusalem. However, there were some who were willing to go. Nehemiah 11:2 says, “And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.” Let’s be honest, the people probably blessed the volunteers, not because they were amazed at the volunteers willingness to move, but because it meant they didn’t have to move. Regardless of why they blessed them, the point is that Jerusalem was going to take her rightful place as the center of Israel once again. Maybe you are wondering, what does this have to do with me?
A phrase that I have said often when teaching through Scripture is this, you can’t go with God and remain where you are.” Many Christians say, “I want to grow in my faith.” However, few are willing to pay the price that spiritual growth requires. This isn’t so much about picking up and moving to a new place. What it really comes does to is, are we willing to obey God no matter what? Sometimes it is harder to stay and fight than it is to pick up and leave. Look at the divorce rate in our nation. Marriage is hard under the best of circumstances. Sometimes people get so fed up with working hard to keep their marriage alive, they believe the lie of the devil that it would be easier to no longer be married. I’ve unfortunately even heard people say, “I have to leave. God wants me to be happy, and this doesn’t make me happy anymore, so there has to be something better out there for me.” Let me just interject this real quick, God’s primary concern for His children isn’t their happiness, it is their holiness. Marriage is one of God’s refining fires for a believer. You learn to love like God, to forgive like God, and to extend grace like God in marriage. But marriage isn’t the main point here. Again, the main point is being willing to obey God no matter what. We have taught in churches for far too long that being a child of God doesn’t cost you anything. If you are talking about your salvation, then you are absolutely correct. That price was paid for by Jesus on the cross. However, to follow Jesus will cost you everything. After all, Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If any man desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” A call to follow Jesus is a call to die to yourself over and over, every single day. In order to obey Jesus, we must first love Jesus. The more we love Him, the more we desire to obey Him. Therefore, if you are having trouble laying something down in your life, if you are having a hard time writing God a blank check with your life; the answer is to fall more in love with Him. It isn’t to try harder or to guilt yourself into doing something. How do you love Him more? Spend time learning of Him through reading the Bible, and obeying Him. Following Jesus isn’t for the faint of heart. But it is absolutely worth it, not only for eternity, but for now as well. Where is He leading you? What is keeping you from following Him? Spend time today talking to Him about it, and asking for His help for you to follow Him wherever He leads.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin