Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Daily Bible Reading - Nehemiah 6

In the midst of a good work, Nehemiah has a meeting with a man by the name of Shemaiah. Shemaiah tells Nehemiah that is life is in danger and that he needs to go to the temple for his safety. Now this seems like good advice for the great man of God. His life is in danger, but the advice is evil.

In fact, Nehemiah was able to perceive that Shemaiah was a liar. Nehemiah response to this little incident was to pray (6:13). He trusted God to take care of him.

Fact of life – Evil men were trying to destroy the ministry of Nehemiah. They were trying to do it through intimidation and fear. If they could get Nehemiah to over react to the threat, they could destroy his reputation and therefore the work on the wall. It was a subtle attempt to stop the good work. It was an incident that no one would know about but Nehemiah. But if Nehemiah had responded wrong, everyone would know.

Nehemiah was wise and able to see clearly because he was a man of faith. And a man of faith never lives a life of fear, but of trust in the Lord. Nehemiah continues his good work and the people follow with him.

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