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(14) Moreover, from the time that I was appointed
to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the
thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers
ate the governor's provisions. (15) But the former governors who were
before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides
forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but
I did not do so, because of the fear of God. New
King James Version Change your email Bible version
When the Persian king appointed him governor of the Jewish exiles who had
returned to Palestine from Babylon, Nehemiah discovered that the governors
before him were in the habit of "squeezing" the people for their own gain.
Nobody would have wondered if Nehemiah had done the same. Is that not the way
people in government operate? Everybody does it! The people would have simply
shrugged their shoulders, fully expecting it as the way things are done. It was
the custom. Nehemiah's standard, however, was exceedingly higher: His hands must
be absolutely clean.
Why did he do it? He feared God! Nehemiah's way of living reached down into
the nitty-gritty of everyday life and may have involved considerable sacrifice.
He would not operate the way the
world does. Certainly, the laborer is worthy of his hire, but sometimes
sacrifices must be made, and Nehemiah determined this was one of them. He would
not conform to what everyone else did. Several other vignettes from the same
book confirm this was not a one-time occurrence. Unless we are willing to say,
"No," to what everybody else is doing, and do it often, our Christian life will
be static from its outset.
God and the world do not have the same perspectives on how to live life. Once
we have the right standards, God's standards, saying, "No," to ourselves is of
paramount importance if we want to put on the image
of God and remove the image of this world. The world, combined with our own
carnality, keeps pressuring us to conform to its attitudes and ways, and if we
are passive, it is easy for us to drift with its way of thinking. We must make
choices. Sometimes, they are very difficult because of the sacrifice involved.
In them, we will show whether we respect God and His purpose or this world.
The fear
of God must become a foundation stone to us, one of the kind of nobility and
strength of character Nehemiah possessed. It does not matter whether the issue
is losing weight because of gluttony or eliminating debt because of covetousness.
The world takes little notice of God until trouble is already upon them. But we
must learn to do all things to glorify God, and it takes deeply respecting Him
to do this. Honestly, would Jesus allow Himself to drift from His
focus on glorifying God to become obese or in debt to the point of bankruptcy?
His respect for—fear of—God would not permit Him to do these things.
The Christian has to rip himself from the world's way of thinking and doing.
He must be a nonconformist in this regard. He must always understand that the
world, though mentioning God frequently, does not fear Him, as its conduct
shows. Romans 3:18 asserts, "There is no fear of God before
their eyes." A Christian must consciously march to the beat of a different
drummer.
Why do we not all conduct our life the way Nehemiah did? Partly because of
laziness, to a degree because of cowardice, and sometimes because of ignorance.
At times, we are so out of touch with God, we become swept up in sinful activity
before we are aware what is going on. Yet, at other times, we fail because of
this powerful sheep characteristic to give in to the impulse of the moment
because everybody else is doing it. There is no tyranny like the tyranny of the
majority. It can be every bit as harsh as the tyranny of a despot. Either can
put us into bondage. Unless we are willing to look at things through the eyes of
God and stand on our own two feet because we fear Him, we will be just as
helplessly enslaved to the opinions of the hour as ever.
It is a historical truism that truth
on an issue often lies with the minority. The opinions and ways of the majority
are often impulsive, taking the path of least resistance without being concerned
about the long-range effects. Those in the minority usually have the advantage
of thinking things through because they know their ideas will be unpopular and
resisted, and so they prepare themselves better.
God is most concerned about how things end, the conclusion of a matter. He
wants us to understand what the fruit of an action will be. Nehemiah was willing
to be different, a non-conformist if conforming was wrong. His respect for God
and what God thought was greater than his fear of what men would think of him or
what he would have to deny himself.
— John W. Ritenbaugh
To learn more, see:
The Elements of Motivation (Part One):
Fear
Related Topics:
Compromise
Conformed to this World
Conforming
Conforming to God's Will
Covetousness
Debt
Gluttony
God's Standards
Nehemiah
Sacrifice
Self Control
Standards of Morality
Standards of Right and Wrong
World's Influence
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