The Conclusion of Nehemiah

Over the course of 2016 I had been preaching on the book of Nehemiah.  While it was a longer study - taking the whole year, it was still worth it in many ways.  I wanted to condense what I learned while studying and preaching the book.  If you are interested that last 52 weeks of sermon audio is available through our website www.whitelakebaptist.com. 

Nehemiah is about obedience.  Nehemiah has one source of authority in his life and he seeks approval from no other.  He has a sense of what God wants him to do and he pursues it regardless of the consequences from the outside world, regardless of what his peers think.  Nehemiah is not distracted by the events going on around him, he has singular focus on accomplishing his God-given purpose.  I desire this kind of singular focus.  It is so easy to be distracted away from our God-given purpose and focus on what others want from us.  It is so easy to be drawn away to seek after things that really do not matter.  Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you." (NASB)  So often we think of this in terms of seeking His kingdom and interpret it to be an issue of salvation, or we connect it to worry in the context before it.   But note that the corrective to worry is two-fold - to seek first His kingdom but also to seek first His righteousness.  We are to live rightly for our Savior.  We need not worry about anything if we are pursuing the task that God has given us because we know that God will give us all we need to accomplish the task that He sets before us. 

Nehemiah struggled.  He faced obstacle after obstacle in his pursuit of God's design on his life.  Sometimes we think being a Christian and doing what God desires will make our lives better and easier.  Most often it will not.  Instead, God promises us trials that will mature us.  God promises us tribulations that will grow us into the likeness of Christ.  And James tells us that we are to count it all joy.  Do not be discouraged if your obedience leads to deeper struggle.  It likely will.  Instead, like Nehemiah, simply continue to pursue that which God has called you to do. 

If we can focus on these two things in the days ahead - obedience and perseverance - I think we will all grow to be more like Christ.  May we encourage each other toward this goal.