“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof; for the people had a mind to work.”
The book of Nehemiah shows what God’s people can do if they put their minds to it. Nehemiah wrote that “the people had a mind to work.” They had what I will call “the right mind.” The people who returned with Nehemiah to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem were faced with the formidable task of rebuilding the wall around the city. To make a long story short, because they had a mind to work, they rebuilt the wall in fifty-two days. These ancient people set an example for us, that if we put our minds to the right things, we can accomplish great things for the Lord. I want to share some of these ways that we need to have a “right mind.” A “right mind” for the people of God is, as written in the text, “a mind to work.” The New Testament tells us that we are not saved by works, but by “grace through faith.” (Read Ephesians 2:8-10.) Though we are not saved by works, we are saved to work. The work that we should do for the Lord will be accomplished by the Holy Spirit working in us, but it will nevertheless be real work. We do not realize what we could accomplish if we would make up our minds that we are going to do the work that God has for us to do. In the case of the Jews in Nehemiah’s day, it was to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. In our case the work will be whatever the Lord leads us to do. A “right mind” for the people of God is a mind to worship. Christian work without worship will not be effective. In order to do the work that the Lord has for us to do, we must center our minds on Him, stay close to Him and worship Him. This is why we have church services every week. Of course, we should worship the Lord on a daily basis, but we need those times of corporate worship in order for us to get out minds and hearts together as we go about the Lord’s work. Like the people in Nehemiah’s day, we must organize our work and stick together while we do it. Our worship of God together prepares us to be the formidable work force that we can be under God’s leadership. A “right mind” for the people of God is to have a mind to watch. While the wall around Jerusalem was being rebuilt, Nehemiah had people standing watch while others did the work. The Jews had formidable enemies who were opposed to their rebuilding the wall, so they had to be vigilant while they worked. Throughout the Bible, we are reminded that we need to watch out for our enemy, Satan, who “walks about (as a roaring lion) seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8) Satan also has his people who do his evil work for him, and we need to watch out for them too. We need to understand the world, which is under Satan’s influence, has no interest in seeing progress in God’s kingdom work. These people are not just doing Satan’s bidding in the world, they find their way into churches as well. We need to watch out for them and not let them get a foothold in our churches. They are easy to spot, because they are in the church to cause problems, not to carry out the work. A “right mind” for the people of God is to have a mind to witness. Everything that we do through the church is to witness to the world. We need to watch our personal lives and be sure that our lives are a witness of Jesus to the world. We are to watch our work through the church that we will be witnesses of the love of Jesus. Whatever we do in the Lord’s work, it is to be witnesses to the world. In other words, witnessing is our main work and everything that we do should be with that in mind. Put your mind to the work that the Lord has for you to do, keeping in mind these things written about in this article. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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