Nehemiah 7:5-60
Today’s devotion is an interesting one because it consist of 55 verses. At first I was like woah what a long passage to read but as I was reading, I recognized most of it were part of the census taken by Nehemiah. I like Nehemiah because of his administrative and organizational skills! He truly had the gift of administration when it came to his leadership. Interestingly enough, Nehemiah acknowledged that it was God who put within his heart to assemble all the nobles, officials, and common people for the registration census. What this tells me is that when God puts a vision in Nehemiah’s heart, he prepares with great organization to accomplish the vision that God has placed within his heart. As a leader, I think this is an important reminder for me. God is God of order, not the author of confusion but of peace according to 1 Corinthians.
The other important aspect that spoke to me during this devotion was the importance of recognizing each and every single person. Nehemiah listed every single person in his census and made sure he didn’t miss anyone. That is why the walls were rebuilt so that all the people listed would have a safe haven and a home. This is what we must recognize as a church. We must “list” out every single person and not miss someone. A important thought came into my mind. If I were to look at the excel sheet of every single name that passed through Canvas the past year, would I recognize them? Hmm. This convicted me. I need to recognize and remember all the names of every one in the church because every single person matters to God!
Proverbs 12
So funny from the first verse which says “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.” A simple yet a powerful statement. We always view correction or confrontation as bad but many times in my life, the corrections were necessary for me to recalibrate and get myself on the right track.
Being a careful and prudent person will receive praise always. How we respond emotionally will be important as to the reputation that we have. I know many men that lost respect because they simply could not make wise decisions or they could not keep their emotions under control. It says in verse 8 that “a person is praised according to their prudence, and one with a warped mind is despise.”
Easy money will always lead to nowhere. You need to work hard and persevere to achieve what you want. If you want to achieve something, strive to achieve it. IT says in verse 11, “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.”
The prudent and careful people will keep certain things to themselves and not blurt it out to the whole world to hear. Blurting out everything when some are meant to be private means that you are nothing but a fool according to verse 23 which says “The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.”