Christian Devotional – January 30, 2020

Day 30 – Another try. His enemies kept trying to find ways to get at Nehemiah. Read Nehemiah 6:10-14.

When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.” But I said, “Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.” Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.
Nehemiah 6:10‭-‬14 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/neh.6.10-14.NASB

The plot was underway, and the enemy used a man that was already close to Nehemiah. A man that Nehemiah thought he could trust. As he headed home to this man’s house, this man gave Nehemiah some information and made his suggestion about what to do. The only problem was, his suggestion would have resulted in Nehemiah doing something wrong. Nehemiah was not a priest and as a result, he was not allowed inside the temple in the way that the man was suggesting that he go to hide.

When we are faced with adversaries that are seeking our downfall, we have to be aware that what we do must be above reproach. We must continue to follow through on all the commands that God has given us and be obedient in all the areas that we know to be obedient to. In this case, his enemies were looking for a way to discredit Nehemiah. And they used someone close to him to try it.

We are to stay focused on all that God has commanded that we do so that we are not distracted and ultimately disobedient in an area. We can not be driven by fear of the people who are against us because that may lead to us making decisions and taking action based on fear, not based on obedience to God. Keep focused on God today.