52 or 90?
It's God's people back where God's house is in God's city, and you're telling me that a lifetime has passed and they have not fortified the walls.
Season 5, Episode 34 · 52 or 90?
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The story behind the idea
It's God's people back where God's house is in God's city, and you're telling me that a lifetime has passed and they have not fortified the walls.
What stands out
There are things that you could spend your whole life not doing. 90 years, from birth till death, you can see that it's important, but you can just get used to not doing it. You can start and give it a try for a few days, but succumb to a lack of courage or commitment or falter under the weight of the opposition and just ignore it. In fact, there are things that an outside believer might observe in your life that are super crucial to fortify by the power of God, but you've become so used to it that you just walk around it or step over it or even justify it.
Why it matters
I've been preaching this lesson since my mid-20s, and several times along the way, people would say, you know, I've never read the New Testament. I know I need to, I have all the excuses in the world, but I just don't know that I'm the kind of disciplined person who can get that done, and I'm not sure how to change it. I would tell them something like this, you know, there's a good chance you'll go your whole life without it unless you figure out a strategy to make immediate change.
A faithful way forward
At my age, it would be very easy to just live out the rest of the years, maybe I get 90 of them, and just never really find the strength to address that. Just consider metabolic changes and life changes and genetic stuff, and never even consider that I could rebuild what once was. It was 53 days ago that I remembered Nehemiah's story and I made a choice.
Put it into practice
It was about restoring the pride, and I mean that in a good way, the pride as God's people of an entire nation.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What idea from this study most needs my attention right now?
- 02Where does this challenge the way I am currently thinking or living?
- 03What is one faithful step I can take this week?
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