RPG Adults
APPROACH TO SERVICE (IV)
LORD’S DAY, JANUARY 11
Nehemiah 2:9-20
Ephesians 2:1-10
“…we his servants will
arise and build…”
APPROACH TO SERVICE (IV)
Though Nehemiah’s work was a physical one, in that he was to build a physical wall around the city of Jerusalem, it was also a spiritual task. In all the stages of preparation until then, when the work was about to start, he acknowledged the good providential hand of God. This made it clear that his approach to God’s work had been a spiritual one.
Approach to service is greatly influenced by one’s view of self and of the work. A good work viewed wrongly will be approached wrongly, and ultimately even be corrupted.
The God of heaven, he will prosper us (Neh 2:20). In the previous section, we saw an approach to work that was separatist and exclusive. Collaboration with compromise never prospers God’s work. Nehemiah’s resolve that the rebuilding of Jerusalem was none of the scorners’ business and that they should have no part in that work, was drawn from the view he had both of himself and of those who should do the work, as well as the nature of the work they were about to undertake. They were about to undertake God’s work and were to do it for God’s glory. Therefore, only those who were God’s servants were to be included in the work, hence Nehemiah’s rallying call: “we his servants will arise and build.”
But even as God’s servants rose up to the task and to the work of God, they did so not in their own strength or wisdom, but with faith and assurance. Their confidence that God’s work would never lack God’s hand of help and their faith that the “God of heaven, he will prosper us” (Neh 2:20) promoted commitment to the work of God at hand. The men who rose up to join in the work were all volunteers. They gave of their time and efforts, but not for personal or financial gain. Theirs was not a self-serving work, it was service to God and God’s people. They, therefore, approached the work with faith in God and commitment to God in the process of the work. This is the essence of religious work. The building of the wall was to be done religiously, relying on God, ascribing it to God, and involving only those who shared the same faith.
THOUGHT: Approach service with trust and commitment to God.
PRAYER: Grant me the grace to serve Thee faithfully, O Father.