SoLo Lives! Ministry

The Jewish populace was full of zeal as they embarked on the wall restoration in Jerusalem. “After the wall had been rebuilt…” (Nehemiah 7:1), there was reason to celebrate the completion of such a colossal task. But were they going to sit on their laurels and marvel at their accomplishment? No, for it sets the stage for a higher calling: to bring the citizens back to Jerusalem (chapter 7) and bring the people back to God (chapter 8 onwards). When we look at our own country, the Philippines’ greatest need is not economic prosperity or political stability, not a change in leadership or government system, but a great spiritual revival. We were once broken jars made whole again through God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ – a “Wow” thing, definitely! As time passes, however, we lose the joy of our salvation and the fire in our hearts starts to flicker until it eventually snuffs out. So what will bring back the WOW into our individual lives and ultimately turn this nation back to God?

1. WORD OF GOD. With the work done, the Jews assembled together in the town square to wait for God to speak to them. They devoured the Word of God as they listened attentively to the public reading of the Scriptures from early morning till noon (Nehemiah 8:1-3). There was a clamor for the Word of God because they had tasted His goodness through the wonders of His mighty hand – the completion of the work in a record-breaking 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15-16). Because they had a high view of God’s Word, they built a podium for the purpose of preaching the Word and the people stood up when the Book was opened (vv. 4-5). They gained insight and understanding as the Word was explained to them by God’s workers (vv. 7-8).

What if we treated our Bible with the same importance as our cell phones? We incessantly check it for messages throughout the day. We keep it close by in case of an emergency. Wherever we go, we carry it around and when we cannot get connected, we get bothered. And finally, we make sure the battery never runs low. Is the Bible just as important to us? “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

2.  OBEDIENCE. According to Oswald Chambers: “A single revealed fact cherished in the heart and acted upon is more vital to our growth than a head filled with lofty ideas about God. One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it.” Before Nehemiah’s time, God told the Israelites through Moses to annually celebrate the Feast of Booths, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, for 7 days at a designated time of the year. They were to build booths, just like our nipa huts, and live in them for the duration of the feast. This was done so that the younger generations may know that the Lord is their God, who brought them out of bondage from Egypt (Leviticus 23:34-43). The feast was observed for them to LOOK BACK, so they would not forget their past as a people once oppressed; to LOOK AROUND, to see God’s providential hand, that while they were wandering in the desert for 40 long years, God never left them nor forsook them; and to LOOK FORWARD to the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. However, the Jews had not lived in booths as a nation in observance of the feast since the days of Joshua. Hence, when they heard God’s reminder in the Book of Law, they quickly responded in obedience. Not having done it before does not make God’s commands obsolete (Nehemiah 8:13-18). Obedience to God’s commands never goes out of fashion even if it does not seem relevant, even if no one else is doing it, even if it is costly, or even if we don’t like it. We obey simply because God said so.

When God tells us to do something, do we delay by making excuses, waiting for a better time? Or do we choose to obey immediately?

We need to look back to our past life steeped in mud and mire because of sin. But God pulled us out and cleansed us through the Blood of His Son, Jesus. When we look around us, there are many blessings we can thank God for – the freedom to gather together to worship God and study the Bible when many Christians in other parts of the world are being persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith; and our spiritual family in CCF where we can give and receive love. We certainly have much to look forward to – what we will be, perfect like Christ, when He returns to bring us to heaven. When we get into the habit of looking back, looking around and looking forward, we will be brought to the point of obedience.

3. WORSHIP. “’This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law… ‘Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength’” (Nehemiah 8:9-10). When the Jews heard God’s Word, they were convicted of sin, so they bowed down with their faces to the ground in deep sorrow (v. 6). Weeping expresses our sorrow because of sin. But we should not stay that way for long; otherwise, we are telling God He cannot comfort us. God says: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners… to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. So they will be called trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3). Tears are not good if the sense of conviction for sin is greater than the sense of God’s holy work. When we open ourselves to God’s healing, we are freed from the bondage of sin, along with our guilt and shame. Our mourning should turn into rejoicing and we can then worship God for what He has done.

One of the saddest things in the body of Christ today is the pale spiritual lives of many of God’s people. Do we walk about with defeat written all over our faces? Or, do we exude the joy of the Lord even in the midst of difficult circumstances, that others can’t help but say, “Wow!”? Let the Word of God, obedience and worship put the WOW back into our lives.