Put It To The Test

Day 232:  Ecclesiastes 3 & Nehemiah 6

This last Sunday I shared in the message how important it is for us as believers to know God's Word. For the message the point was that we needed to see how relevant it was to our lives so that we could help others see that it is relevant to their lives as well.  But there is another reason we need to know what God says.  I'll use an experience Nehemiah had to explain.

Nehemiah had come back to Jerusalem from Babylon (the heart of the Persian Empire - same Persia represented in the movie 300) and had begun to rebuild the wall around his beloved City.  While work continued the surrounding people groups tried desperately to slow and ultimately stop the work claiming all kinds of reasons and threatening all kinds of destruction if it did not.

At one point Nehemiah was asked to visit a man named Shemaiah who was very concerned for Nehemiah's safety.  He claimed (probably honestly) that some men were going to try and kill Nehemiah that very night.  As they talked about what that might mean if something happened to Nehemiah they began to discuss some possible ways to keep Nehemiah safe.  At some point, Shemaiah suggested that Nehemiah barricade himself in the Temple so as to avoid this attempt on his life.

My guess would be that up to that moment Nehemiah was tracking pretty well with his friend.  An attack on his life was serious and could bring the work on the city wall to a complete stop.  And the fear that this would bring might keep the people from ever restarting the work.  I'm sure Nehemiah was concerned not only for his life but for the work God had moved in him to complete.

That is, until, Shemaiah suggested he go find sanctuary in the Temple.

Nehemiah new the Word of God.  That instruction made it clear that ONLY the Priests were allowed to enter the Temple.  Only those who were the descendants of the first Priest, Aaron.  Because Nehemiah new the Word of God, when his friends suggested that he break that Word and sin against God Nehemiah was able to correctly determine the real intent of Shemaiah's concern.

Turns out, Nehemiah's enemy had paid off Shemaiah to try and get Nehemiah to break God's law so that they would have something against him with which to tarnish his reputation before the people and with a character assassination bring the work on the wall to a halt.

Self preservation is a pretty powerful motivator but it does not take precedent over God's Word.  Nehemiah knew that God would protect him if he continued to follow Him.  However, if Nehemiah had taken Shemaiah's advice He would have been in violation of God's Law and under guilt and punishment himself.  Because Nehemiah knew God's Word he was able to correctly determine what was going on and then stand in faith instead of falling in fear.

When we take God's Word as truth He can protect us from making the wrong decisions.

John says, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  How do we test the spirits?  How do we test the advice we get from others?  How do we know when it's God speaking through them or not?  We must know God's Word.  It is our defense against making the wrong decisions.  When we test our ideas and the advice we get from others against what God says we have a clear direction - even though we may not understand it, we may not want to do it, God's way is always the right way.

Take some time today to read God's Word so you can make the right decisions and avoid sin.