Christian Devotional – January 21, 2020

Day 21 – Sin. Not all problems come from outside, sometimes they come from inside. Read Nehemiah 5:1-5.

Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.” There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.” Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
Nehemiah 5:1‭-‬5 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/neh.5.1-5.NASB

As we continue to be obedient to God, not only do we encounter opposition from those who are opposed to God, often sin is revealed in the lives of those that we are working with. It’s interesting to see how Nehemiah deals with this. While they were working, the people came to Nehemiah and explained to him a situation that he was unaware of. The people were starving. So, in order to be able to buy grain, they were having to sell them selves into slavery to other sons of Israel. They were in slavery to their brothers.

This was something that God had specifically forbidden in previous writings and commandments. Yet, any time we get busy doing what God has us to do, sin is often revealed. As we are focusing on being obedient, are we also paying attention to and watching out for any sins we may need to repent of? We are not perfect, so there is going to be sin in our lives. As God brings that forward, we must be repentant. What sin areas in our lives do we need to confront today?