The value of not neglecting the spiritual life

In a world that is in spiritual ruin, we cannot afford to rely on our own strength to do God's work. As ministers of the Lord our main strength is prayer, a time of intimacy and devotion with our heavenly Father, the confession of our sins and repentance before the merciful God because we well know that our enemy, In all that we undertake for the glory of God, it is absolutely spiritual. Our dependence on God each day is a reflection of our spiritual maturity.

The book of Nehemiah is a manual of spiritual procedure. We see him from the moment he resigns from his position as cupbearer to the King. We felt it from his first cry to the God of heaven before asking Artaxerxes the desire to go to his land to rebuild its ruined walls. The first virtue of the spiritual man is the renunciation - of his possessions and passions - to submit to the will of God. The Word warns us well »No one can serve two masters, for they will despise one and love the other, or they will love one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth ”. (Mt 6.24). Or cupbearer of the King or servant of the Lord of Lords. In this sense we still have a lot to learn. Often we cling to what we possess and believe we have been its architects as if we had achieved it ourselves and the hand of God had been absent.

God and his people have an enemy who is incarnated in men to oppose their plans. Chapter 4 of Nehemiah contains beautiful teachings for today's Christian, called to serve the Lord in a world that dazzles us for its tinsel, but saddens us for its moral ruin. Our war is against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6.12). If the evil one has gained ground in some vital battle, we will have to rebuild the walls that have been torn down because we have neglected our spiritual life. This is the gap that the enemy takes advantage of to filter through “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 P 5.8).

After we quit, we must humble ourselves before God. When Nehemiah saw the mockery and conspiracy of the enemies of God's people so that the wall would not be rebuilt, he invited him to humble himself and cry out: “Then we pray to our God, and to defend ourselves we stand guard against them day and night. " (Neh 4.9). The enemy may be powerful, but our God is almighty, he is an enemy already defeated on the redemptive cross. Even so, we must watch day and night so that it does not gain ground and hinder God's plans. The problem with our enemy is that he still does not understand that by opposing the projects that we do for God, he is in fact opposing God himself, and that, although he continues to insist on making war against God, he already lost it two thousand years ago. years. "... our God will fight for us." (Neh 4.20)

Let us pray to the Lord and watch day and night. In a world in moral and spiritual ruin, we cannot neglect our relationship with God.

God bless you!

Suggested Reading: Nehemiah 4