Lately I have been studying the book of Nehemiah and have learned many great lessons from this book. One of the things that has impacted me greatly in the last few weeks is found in Nehemiah 8:1-8. After the walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt and the job was completed, the people gathered together (about 50,000 people) and they told Ezra to bring out the book of the law of Moses. So this big mob of people gather in a town square and call out for their spiritual leader to bring out the Word of God and teach them. What would that look like in our churches today if the people just started calling out for the preacher to bring out the Word?
The Bible tells us that when Ezra "opened the book "the people stood up in reverence to God's Word and then Ezra read and taught it to them for about 5 or 6 hours. That is a long sermon...we are usually ready to be done listening after someone has talked for 30 minutes and we are sitting down.
As I read this section of scripture, the question that kept circling in my brain was, "Do I have this great of a hunger for God's word?" I am not sure I am so hungry for the scripture that I would want to stand and listen to it for 5 or 6 hours. I think one of the problems we face today is that the Bible has become common to us. We have our own copy (many or us have multiple copies) and since we can read it any time we want, we usually don't read it at all. Isn't that ironic? What we can do whenever, is usually put off until...never.
Around the world people are longing for a copy of the Bible in their own language. In some countries where the Bible is forbidden, some people are just happy to have a few pages of the Bible.
My desire is to have such a hunger for God's word that I am excited to hear from the Word at any time and to hold it's teachings with great reverence. My prayer is that God would increase our passion to spend time in the Book and that in spending time in the Book, our lives would be transformed by the Book.
Check out the entire 8th chapter of Nehemiah to read the results of the Book being taught to the Israelites. It was one powerful event.
1 comment:
As I as was doing a quick read for your post. I began to slow down and read your post slower. I do agree that around the world people are longing for a copy of the Bible in their own language. Soon, I will be traveling to East Africa and will be taking Christian Literature with me for the people in villages. Not only does spending time in the book transform us, but we should be trying our best to do all we can to get the word into the hands of those who do not have a copy. Blessings to you as you travel, Ann.
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