Before we behave, we belong!
Every day we’re asking four questions about part of the Bible. Today Liz Nixon answers:
What did I like about today’s passage?
Nehemiah prays, recounting the Israelites history: praising God for His steadfast faithfulness, and confessing that His people have been continually unfaithful. We see a repeated cycle of God saving the Israelites, miracles happening, and the people being blessed by God: they grow complacent and forget Him, and act unfaithfully towards Him; God hands them over to their enemies as discipline; they cry out to Him and God once more saves them.
Nehemiah acknowledges that God is always good and faithful, and that they have been unfaithful and turned their hearts away from Him.
Chapter 10 is an agreement of things they promise to do and not do, as a way of showing God their good intentions to live differently. But it was short- lived change because the root of the issue was not dealt with. They thought dealing with the symptoms (their sinful behaviour) could change them but only a changed heart and mind will impact the way they behaved.
“Before we behave, we belong” is a quote from one of the talks in The Gold course, and this sums up the issue with what Israel is trying to do. They are making rules about what they will or won’t do. They are behaving in order to belong, to make God “happy”.
But God says to those who trust in Jesus that we are His children, and we belong to Him. A growing knowledge of God as our Father, and our increasing experience of being His child will then lead to changes in behaviour. But first we belong!
And this is the great, great news of the Gospel: it’s not a behaviour modification programme, but an adoption programme!
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
I love that the people don’t have to grieve in repentance for their unfaithfulness, but to rejoice in God and celebrate. What a picture of who God is! He is a jubilant, joyful God of celebration. Doesn’t celebration sound more fun, and more in keeping with the good news of the Kingdom, than mourning and solemnity?!
It reminds me of the Prodigal Son, and the joy of the Father on his son’s return. He doesn’t wait until he is clean, fed and dressed appropriately to celebrate, but starts the party immediately! He doesn’t tell him off first but embraces him! That’s the joy of our Father when we come home to Him, when we recognise our unfaithfulness and praise Him for His faithfulness. God is a Father full of joy and celebration, and we get to celebrate with Him! And for Israel, it was time to celebrate what God had done in bringing them back from exile.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
It’s vital to remind myself that I am a child of God, a daughter of the King: that truth will better impact my behaviour, than trying to force myself into religious lists of “do this and not that”!
Who am I going to share this with?
People on The Gold course.