Reform - Neh. 13:30

"So I purged out everything foreign..." Neh. 13:30

All of Neh. 13 was about Nehemiah expelling ungodly practices from the nation of Israel. The sense I got was that Nehemiah was doing everything he could to bring holiness back to his people--to make them a separate people from the world around them--to once again do the things that God told them to do from the beginning. I need to be more like Nehemiah in my own life. Left on my own, I will slowly slip back toward the world, not because it is more desirable, but because it is the path of least resistance. As Nehemiah said, even King Solomon fell prey to the seductive nature of the world. God, however, is calling me to be set apart for him, and he is a jealous God! I have to be on constant watch for things that creep in that need to be purged.

Holy Spirit, keep my eyes open, my Spirit sensitive.

Today's reading: Neh. 13; Mal. 1, 2; Acts 4