Seize the Moment – Day 1000
Be the Solution!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, December 12. Today celebrates the one thousandth day of making these daily calls. May you grow stronger in your daily walk with Jesus by taking on His easy yoke to learn from Him and find rest for your soul. May you join me in reading and meditating upon God’s Word.
Good leaders don’t ask anything of others that they wouldn’t be willing to do first themselves. Nehemiah was a great leader! During a time of economic hardship caused by heavy taxation by the Persians, a famine, and internal greed (Nehemiah 5:3-5), Nehemiah demanded that the wealthy of his nation stop being a part of the problem and be the solution (6-12). Unlike many leaders in our world today, Nehemiah was setting an example of economic justice for the rest to follow – He was being the solution!
Nehemiah was authorized a governor’s food allowance, but instead of taking that which came from the taxation of his people, he fed them out of his own resources – over one hundred fifty people (14-18). Nehemiah worked side-by-side with the people, he lent them money and grain, and he expected the rich and powerful to follow his leadership, without exception. In a powerful display of leadership, in verse 13, Nehemiah held himself and the rich to the same standard of God’s judgment:
I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise.
Nehemiah was being the solution, and he will always be remembered as a leader who cared for his people (19). The people followed him because he was a leader of integrity.
Seize the moment and be the solution – Live in such a way that others want to follow you as you follow Jesus!
God bless you!
If you would like to receive a personal phone call today, all you have to do is dial the phone number below right now and one of us will call you soon.
YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
Videos are posted about a week after the devotion appears in the blog.