Nehemiah 2:18 - Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work.
Greetings blog readers!
We have another major update on how our construction has been progressing. You can see the progress from the photos below.
Is building walls good or bad?
Well, that depends on what kind of wall
we build. If we build walls to cut ourselves off from other people so
that we can live in self-centered isolation and selfish indulgence, then
wall-building is bad. But if we build walls to strengthen our position
and to protect ourselves from impending danger, then it is good. Good
wall building is the theme of the Old Testament book of Nehemiah.(We suggest to read the first
three chapters of Nehemiah) From
this book of Scripture we learn that God wants every growing Christian
to be involved in spiritual wall building. Nehemiah's record of building
the material walls of ancient Jerusalem has a lot to teach us about the
building of spiritual walls in the believer's life today.
Every Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit (
1 Corinthians 6:19),
but not every Christian has strong and solid walls. In fact, some
Christians are like some of the people in Nehemiah's day--content to
live in the midst of broken down walls. How are your spiritual walls?
Spiritual wall-building is not easy. It's hard work. There are obstacles
and opposition to overcome. There are discouragements and doubts along
the way. We see all of these drawbacks at work in the book of Nehemiah.
(See especially
chapters 4-6.) But the great encouraging truth of the
book of Nehemiah is that solid spiritual walls can be built and that God
will bless every effort we make to persevere in spiritual
wall-building.
What do we mean by "spiritual walls" anyway? Spiritual walls relate to
the strength and stability of our Christian testimony. They relate to
our capability of defending the faith. They relate to our moral strength
in time of temptation. They relate to our ability to separate from the
unbiblical values and attitudes of this world's system. Think of a
walled city compared with an unwalled city back in the days before
modern warfare. The walled city was much stronger and more easily
defended. It was known and established because walled cities were not
"flash in the pan" settlements. It was plainly visible for miles around.
The wall clearly set the city apart from the surrounding countryside.
That's
the way the Lord wants us to be. He wants to see strong, solid
believers with a testimony that is plainly visible in this dark world.
He wants to see Christians with a consistent lifestyle that is
distinctly biblical even if it means painful separation from the values
and the attitudes of the surrounding world system. Are we committed to a
strong and solid wall policy or are we complacently satisfied with
living in Rubble City? How can we build solid spiritual walls in our
lives?
Share your thoughts and comments below. We would love to hear from your and that you are of our blog readers
