(REFLECTIONS ON Nehemiah 10:1-39 )

In a continuation from Nehemiah 9 where the Israelites read the word of God, confessed their sins, and worshiped the Lord their God, in today’s Scripture, we see the Israelites commit to His word. Yes, we must begin by reading His word, letting His word infiltrate our heart and destroy the things in our heart that take us away from the Lord.

The word of God is like a healthy diet and exercise that flushes out our system, so what remains is His truth and His values. When we read the word of God, it will also lead us to confession because we will realize the areas in our life where we have compromised. It is then and only then that we can offer up to the Lord true hearts of worship.

In our worship and praise, with knowledge from His word, we can then do like the Israelites did in today’s Scripture, that is commit to His word. Just like a healthy diet and exercise that does no good if only done once, the word of God also needs to be part of our daily routine. When we are in the word of God on a daily basis, then we can be daily refreshed and cleansed, and only then can we daily worship Him and live committed lives to Him.

To commit to His word requires us to be in His word. Without being in His word, and without His word being in us, it is hard for us to commit to it, because it will not be continually in our hearts and minds. If not the word of God, it will be the words of the world in us. The words of the world will quickly overtake us, and we will once again find ourselves back to where we began.

The Israelites made a binding agreement and sealed it, to follow Him, His commands, and all agreed,

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

As Christians, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19,

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

May we be in His word, commit to His word, and proclaim as His people, “We will not neglect the house of our God.” The house of our God, are our bodies, as they are the temples of the Holy Spirit. As we commit to His word, we are making a commitment to ourselves and to our church community, that we will let His word lead us, mold us, shape us, and make us into the temple that the Lord desires for us to be.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Nehemiah 10