Christian Devotional – February 19, 2020

Day 50 – Recognition. In the business world, there is a lot of discussion about the importance of recognition. We see it here, too. Read Nehemiah 13:10-14.

I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field. So I reprimanded the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts. All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine and oil into the storehouses. In charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen. Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.
Nehemiah 13:10‭-‬14 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/neh.13.10-14.NASB

It’s important to remember that a lot of time has passed between chapter 12 and chapter 13. Nehemiah left and went back to the king to give him a report of all the things that they had accomplished in Jerusalem. Some time has now passed and he goes back to Jerusalem to check on things. However when he gets back there, he finds that a lot of the things that the people had committed to and dedicated themselves to in the earlier chapters have fallen by the wayside.

Now, Nehemiah goes around setting things right. In this case, Nehemiah finds that the people are not giving the tithes the way that they had promised to so that the Levites could be focused on with the work in the house of God. He gets that restored and set right. Then, he makes this statement in verse 14.

In the business world recognition is a huge discussion point. People want to be recognized for the work that they do and for how well they do it. However, look here at Nehemiah. Nehemiah isn’t intrested in the people recognizing him or thanking him for what he’s done or what he is doing. He is intrested in God’s recognition. As believers in Jesus Christ, we must be solely and completely focused on how pleasing are we being to God. It is His opinion of us that matters, not the world’s. It is simply not possible to completely please God and completely please people at the same time.

Who do we want our recognition from? For Nehemiah, he wanted his recognition from God and he was not intrested in what other people thought of him, only in what God thought of him. As we go through today, remembered this: please God, and the people who please God will be pleased with you and you can only pray for the rest.