NEHEMIAH 6:1–4 – Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.
THEME OF THE DAY: BATTLING DISTRACTIONS. In today’s scripture, Nehemiah is facing tremendous pressure from his enemies. They were crafty, united and had one objective – distract Nehemiah from fulfilling God’s purpose in his leadership role. God burdened Nehemiah to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem. This great leader prayed, planned, and encouraged God’s people to come together as one to accomplish this noble work of the Lord.
When it comes to living the Christian life and serving the Lord in the noble work of the Gospel, there are multiple spiritual foes we face, who like Nehemiah’s enemies, want to distract us. We have the deceptive devil who began the evil work of distracting human beings from the Lord in the Garden of Eden. Did he not start his work on Eve leading to the first sin by getting her eyes off the Lord? Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, „You shall not eat of any tree in the garden‟?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, „You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.‟ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:1-6). Be on guard against the whispers from the evil one pulling us away from the truth of God’s Word and drawing our attention to the passions of our flesh. Such distractions lead to spiritual backsliding and that quickly.
The second distracting foe we face in our spiritual lives is an alluring world. The pleasures of the world create significant pressure upon us to get our gaze off the Lord Jesus. And here is the great danger; often it is the good pleasures, the good things in life, that distract us. Strive to keep “the main thing, the main thing” in life; the centrality of the Lord Jesus and not sacrifice the best things in life for the good things in life.
Finally, the enemy of oneself works hard to distract us from the Lord and the work of the Gospel. How does self seek to spiritually distract us? By our strong bent toward ease, comfort, and resistance to any form of suffering. Let’s be honest. Every Christian wants to be used by the Lord, grow close to the Lord, and be more like the Lord, but we want all three of those to be accomplished without pain and suffering. To be straightforward, not happening. We cannot grow or be used without a willingness to pay the cost of exhausting warfare, weary service, and relentless self-denial. Like Nehemiah, and every other servant of the Lord throughout history.
Battling distractions. This is one of the important aspects of living the Christian life successfully; to daily defeat them in the strength of the Lord and the power of His might.
PRAYER: “Father, help me not to allow distractions in life keep me from a clear gaze upon Your Son.”
QUOTE: “Distractions are one of the greatest challenges Christians face in spiritual growth.”