Have you ever noticed that the longer you sit on a seat – the HARDER it gets! I had the joy of attending a training today. It started at 9:00 and went until 3:30 or so – plus I got to drive two hours going and coming. That nice cushioned chair did not look too nice by noon, and by 2:00, well, there was one time when I just HAD to stand up! (and it wasn’t just because my Apple watch told me to do so!) I was so tired of sitting!
It got me to thinking about how “spoiled” we are in our air-conditioned church buildings sitting on our padded pews. Yet, we often complain if that preacher goes over thirty minutes. In Nehemiah 8, we read of a different set of circumstances. When the book of the Law of Moses was found, all the people gathered themselves together as one man in the street. They were HUNGRY for the Word. Ezra, the scribe read aloud the book from the morning until midday – now, that’s a long sermon! It says in verse 3 that the ears of the people, both men and women were attentive to the reading. They HEARD the Word. Verse 5 says that from the time Ezra opened the Book, all the people stood up! They weren’t sitting on padded pews – No, they were standing in HONOR of God’s Word. They stood in the street for hours! Verse 7 names several men who helped the people understand what was being said. Verse 8 says, “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading.” They HANDLED God’s word. What was their response to God’s Word? They wept! It broke their hearts to realize how far they had come away from God’s Will. Does your sin break your heart? The Levites calmed the people and told them that the day was holy. All the people dispersed to eat and drink and make great mirth because they understood the Word that had been declared unto them. They HEEDED the Word.
May we not take God’s Word for granted – no longer how hard the seat! God Bless, Courtney