Christian Devotional – July 4, 2017

Today, in the United States, we celebrate our independence day. It seems fitting, as we read in Nehemiah chapter 2, verses 17 through 20, we see Nehemiah making an Declaration of Independence of sorts. Nehemiah finally shares his grand plan with the people and explains his purpose for coming. He wants them to know that God has given them all a job to do and they all need to work together to fulfill it. Of course, there is opposition. Those people who do not want to see God’s work done begin to speak against it. Nehemiah comes out and explains, very briefly, exactly what it is that he’s doing and who it is that has sent him. Nehemiah knows he doesn’t need to argue with these people and he doesn’t need to try to defend his position. All he needs to do is explain what he’s doing, then get back to doing it.

Sometimes when we encounter opposition to the things that God has given us to do, we feel the need to go into long, lengthy explanations about the whys behind our choice. We want to defend ourselves. But Nehemiah doesn’t. He simply shares what God has told him to do, and then just gets back to doing it. Are we spending needless time defending ourselves? Or, are we focusing on what God has given us to do. That is where our focus is. That is where God can display his power through what we do, and what he can do through us. Let’s get focused on doing the work that God has for us today!