Through all the opposition and hardship, thanks to God’s help and Nehemiah’s leadership, the walls of Jerusalem were finally completed. This must have been a joyous moment. The city of Jerusalem would have looked like a city again, rather than just a ruin. But that was from the outside. The completion of this task, as triumphant a moment as it was, highlighted an unfulfilled opportunity. It is expressed in verse 4: “Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it.” An unpopulated city, in the ancient world, was an indefensible city. Moreover, Jerusalem, according to prophecy was meant to become the city to which all nations would come to worship God. But not even the returned exiles had settled there, preferring instead to live in rural areas. So, Nehemiah drew up a census of the Jewish population in Judea to find the right people to come and live in the city. And, the right people, were those who had returned from exile expressly to be a part of the restoration of a Jewish worshipping community in Jerusalem. It seems that these returnees had lost sight of their original sense of calling. They got distracted with the mundane necessities of life. This can easily happen to all of us. We get so caught up in making a living that we forget what we are living for. We focus on acquiring the means to live and lose the meaning of life. Have you lost touch with your calling? Is there something you have been neglecting. It might be time for you to reengage with God’s purpose.
Reflect on your calling and ask God to show you if you have been neglecting your purpose.
Read Nehemiah 7
