Title: Godliness Under Assault / Topic: Spiritual Battles

Today’s Reading: Nehemiah 13; Malachi 1; Malachi 2; Acts 4

#1 The Battle For The Sabbath Day

#1 Scripture: Nehemiah 13:15-22
15 In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. 16 Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. 17 I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this wicked thing you are doing—desecrating the Sabbath day? 18 Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our God brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath."

19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. 20 Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them and said, "Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. 22 Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.

#1 Observation: Nehemiah is aghast as he returns after an absence from Israel. The Jews have reverted to many of their sinful ways. Here, Nehemiah is dealing with the breaking of the Sabbath day by those doing commerce on what is supposed to be a day of rest. He literally has to lock the gates of Jerusalem and post guards to keep the merchants out. Even then, they still come, even spending the night outside the walls waiting to get in. Nehemiah has to chase them away and threaten them to get them to stop coming.

#1 Application: You can decide to give God what is His but your decision alone is not enough. Any decision you make for God will be challenged. People and circumstances will come against that decision to get you to compromise. Even after you have told them "NO," they will still show up to challenge and tempt you away from your convictions. So you have to continually fight and reinforce to keep your commitments and your convictions against persistent challengers.

#2 Title: Try Treating Your Boss The Way You Treat God

#2 Scripture: Malachi 1:6-8
6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name.
"But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'
7 "You place defiled food on my altar.
"But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?'
"By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

#2 Observation: God, speaking through Malachi, tells them that they are showing Him contempt and a lack of honor and respect by offering substandard animals on the altar of sacrifice. To demonstrate His point God challenges them to "try offering them [crippled or diseased animals] to your governor!" Of course, no one would think of putting a diseased lamb on the platter for a banquet for special guests. Or serving road kill to royalty! Yet we frequently offer gifts to God that we know would never pass the test in other areas of our lives.

#2 Application: Try treating your boss the way you treat God. For example, take your punctuality and attendance record at church and try it at work. Try showing up regularly a little past (or long after) the hour of your scheduled shift. Try missing the same percentage of work days that you miss of church. Or try reading your bosses memos with the same regularity that you read the word. Would your boss be happy with this level of performance on the job? If not, then why should God be happy with that level of sacrifice and service to Him? Think about it.

Prayer: Lord, help me to keep You in the first place in my life, to fully respect You, and to fully follow Your ways. Give me a heart that motivates and inspires me beyond my fear and discomfort to obey You always. May Your Spirit rule in my life.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.