Monday, 3 September

Nehemiah 4:6 – “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together to the half thereof: for the people had a heart to work.”

When Nehemiah first arrived in Jerusalem, the Temple had been rebuilt, but the walls of the city lay in ruin. The enemies of Israel were growing in number and increasing their threats. Nehemiah understood that to truly prosper, one needed to insure one’s protection.

In the story of creation the very first thing that God told Adam to do was to build a wall of hedge of protection around the Garden (See Genesis chapter 2 and 3.). The fact that we find the devil in the middle of the Garden speaking to Adam’s wife in chapter three is some small indication that Adam hadn’t succeeded in building the protective barrier around his home.

In the covenant of salvation, God has blessed us with so much: forgiveness, adoption, power, love and eternal life are just a few of the wonderful aspects of our “Garden of Eden. “  As good as this life is, and as powerful as it can be, it must be protected. And that is our responsibility as children of God.

The picture of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah gives us the picture of many Christians today. The Temple of God is built in their heart, but the walls around their soul are torn down and the devil seems, at times, to have free access.

Just as it was for the enemies of Israel in the times of Nehemiah, so too it is with the enemies of our soul today.  They didn’t attack Jerusalem because of the Temple. They began to rise up against the people of God when they saw the wall being built. The enemies of God knew that rebuilding the wall of protection would keep them out of God’s city.

In the same way, the devil is going to come against you in every way imaginable to keep you from building the proper walls around your heart and soul.  And this is where you need to find the “heart to build.”  You must be determined to do whatever is necessary in order to erect and maintain the walls of protection around your life:  work as hard as you need to work, study as hard as you need to study, be as transparent as you need to be.

Prayer:

– The first prayer I want you to pray today is one in which you declare your intention to build the wall of protection.  It will be high, deep and thick.  It may take years to finish.  But you will have a wall.

– The second prayer is to ask God to continually give you the heart that is needed to get the job done. Talk is cheap. Action costs you something.

Then, as soon as you finish your time of prayer, write down in your personal journal the steps you need to take to begin building the wall of protection around your soul.

Robert BAXTER