Monday, July 28th

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10 Minutes with God:
Monday, July 28th, 2014

There are reminders posted along highways and city streets informing drivers of the dangers of distracted driving.  Studies have shown that distracted driving is as dangerous if not more dangerous that driving while intoxicated.  It’s a pretty serious issue that we really couldn’t have imagined 20 years ago.  Cell phones and ipods, while offering many benefits, have the unintended consequence of causing many people to take their eyes off that which needs their undivided and complete attention-- the road.

As dangerous as distracted driving is, distracted living has an ever greater potential for harm.  One of the principal themes throughout the book of Nehemiah is that focused living produces Kingdom results.

Take a look at Nehemiah 6:1-4:

Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.

I love Nehemiah’s reply to his enemies when they attempt to stop his work: “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”   As we look at the example of Nehemiah, it occurs to me that that one of the critical aspects of focused living is the understanding and awareness that we are part of “a great work”.

In all honesty, I think that I live much of my life only partially aware of the reality that God has called me to be a part of a great work.  As the church, we have been left with the responsibility and calling to represent Christ and his ministry to the world around us.  Ephesians chapter 5 (vs 17-21) articulates the this great work this way:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

What strikes me in these verses is the fact that the calling, or great work, that we are about in our lives and in the church is as clear and it is vital.  Oftentimes I look at the example of Nehemiah and think, “if only God would speak as specifically and as powerfully to me; then I could live with that degree of commitment.”  But God has spoken to me just as clearly and the work is even greater than the task that was set before Nehemiah.  As the church we are in fact the very ambassadors of Jesus Christ.  We carry the message of the gospel- the message of life into a world that is dying. There can be no greater calling and no more important task.  This is our primary calling, our great work.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the the themes that has impacted me the most from our study of Nehemiah is that focused living produces Kingdom results.  As I process the example of Nehemiah, there are a few questions that have emerged for me that you may find helpful as you consider your own awareness and understanding of the calling God has placed in your life.  If you are someone who likes to journal, it may help to write our your responses to these questions.

• How do I define or understand the “great work” that God has placed in my life?  What does it mean for me to be “Christ’s ambassador”?

• How does my awareness of God’s calling in my life to live out the Gospel and represent Him impact how I approach my life?  How does it impact the way I approach today?

• What takes my eyes off of the “great work” that God has given me?  What distracts me?

As we continue through the week, I want us to consider more specifically some of the distractions that prevent us from maintaining our focus on our great work.  What causes us to take our eyes off of the gospel and to settle for something less than living as the very ambassadors of Jesus Christ?