February 26, 2023

Passage Read: Nehemiah 8-11
Meditation Verses: 9:34-38

Thought

The leaders of the people here acknowledge that they are all slaves in their own land, though the Jews in Jesus' day will declare that they have never been slaves of anyone! This generation acknowledges that they are ruled by a foreign king, and that the bulk of their produce goes to their foreign rulers. And it is because their forefathers sinned by failing to obey the Law of the Lord. So this day they rededicate themselves to submit to and carry out the words of the Law. How many of us today are similarly slaves? The borrower is servant to the lender, how many are enslaved to creditors? We are rich slaves, so it seems, because we have so much, but how much have we gained because creditors are so willing to offer their funds to finance our desires? We live pretty good in our slavery so we don't complain too much, and neither do we realize that it is because of sin that we have willingly enslaved ourselves.

Application

I need to make changes. I need to get back out of debt. I need to humble myself and stop making excuses, and clear all my outstanding sins, and walk in greater obedience to the Lord.