Guard The Entrance - Daily Devotional November 19th, 2009

Daily Bible Reading - Nehemiah 7, Joel 2, 2 Thessalonians 1-2

Guard The Entrance

The book of Nehemiah is such a fascinating one and a great story as Nehemiah himself is called by God to do a specific task. From his job as a cup bearer for the king, to the king releasing him to go back to his home city and from the work of rebuilding the walls of that city to his struggles against the enemy this book is packed full of adventure. Not only is it packed full of adventure but like every other book in the Bible it has so many bits of wisdom for us to apply to our lives. One of those bits of wisdom I want to share with you is guarding the entrance points to your life.

In Nehemiah 7:3 the later part of the verse says, "...Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes." Nehemiah and his people are in the process of restoring the city. In this process the enemy sees it and is not happy about it. The enemy threatens Nehemiah that they are going to come in and destroy the city once again, so Nehemiah takes extra precaution so that this does not happen. As you read the whole book you see that Nehemiah actually charged the people to work with a tool in one had and a weapon in the other and then here in this passage he appoints guards in two specific places, the entrance to the city and the entrance to the homes.

Not too many of us are actually fighting a real army like this and rebuilding a real city but the principles we see here are for our spiritual growth and development. Psalm 101:3 says, "I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless". Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life". When it comes to our spiritual well being the Bible is saying, set a guard at the entrance of your city, the eye and set a guard around your house, the heart. Like Nehemiah building the city, we often find ourselves building our social life, families and our personal wealth. What we need to learn is that in the process of building we must also guard what we are building so that the enemy cannot take opportunity to tear it back down.

It all starts with protecting the city or by putting a guard over your eyes. Psalm 101:3 tells us not to look at stuff that is not good for us. Also in Matthew 6:22 it says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light". This verse is so powerful, in that if we really do what Psalm 101:3 tells us to do and we only look at life giving healthy things than we will be full of life. This goes for the things we talk about, listen to and meditate on as well. We must put a guard at the entrance of our city/personal life by guarding our eyes.

Secondly, we must put a guard at our homes, our heart. Because what happens in the home/heart will eventually manifest outside of the home. As a parent I have learned that you can tell a lot about what parents are like and what is going on in homes by watching and listening to the children. Children are such an honest and truthful assessment of all things especially the home. The heart must be guarded because you can tell what is really taking place in some one's life by listening to their heart and not their words. What is taking place in the heart will eventually manifest in every area of our life and that is why it is so essential that like Nehemiah we put a guard in front of our homes/heart. We must take heed to Proverbs 4:23 and guard our hearts vigilantly.

Today as you are building your social life, families and personal wealth let's take a minute to get some weapons like the Bible, Prayer and Church and make sure we are guarding what we are building. Let's take some time to put a guard on our eyes and a guard on our heart. Let's learn from Nehemiah today.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - Nehemiah 8, Joel 3, 2 Thessalonians 3

Dream Big
Ben