{"id":213,"date":"2016-02-13T16:26:19","date_gmt":"2016-02-13T16:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/?p=213"},"modified":"2016-08-12T16:35:32","modified_gmt":"2016-08-12T16:35:32","slug":"hunger-reverence-passion-and-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/?p=213","title":{"rendered":"Hunger, Reverence, Passion, and Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

All the people came together as one…They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel…He read it aloud from daybreak till noon…in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nehemiah 8:1-3<\/p>\n

I am so very impressed at the hunger of these people for the Word of God. Do you see that nobody was pushing them to spend time in the Word? Instead, they are asking that the Word be proclaimed. Unlike today where most people can read and have easy access to the Bible in their language–have it in book form, on computer, smartphone, tablet, and so on–in that day only the priests had the writings. This did not deter the people. They wanted to hear from God, so much so that they gathered en mass, pursued this\u00a0with the priest, and listened attentively<\/em><\/strong> for a 5-6 hour stretch.<\/p>\n

A 2014 survey from the Barna Group<\/a> gives us a different picture of people\u00a0in the US today. Of those surveyed, 81% feel there is a moral decline in the country, 88% of households own a Bible (an average of 4.7 per household in fact) but only 37% read it at least once a week even though 56% say that they believe it is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. We have access for certain. We strongly feel the need for a source of moral authority. A majority indicate that there is a God who gave us an infallible manual for life but little more than a third take the time to examine it with any frequency.<\/p>\n

One more item of interest from the survey is that 19% of those surveyed believed the Word to be inspired and inerrant and read it four or more times per week. Another 19% classified themselves as skeptics, who do not believe the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. What is amazing about this statistic is that a full 62% of those surveyed are ‘sitting on the fence’. They either state that the Bible is the Word of God or it very well may be (not a skeptic) but will not take the time to investigate it. I can respect a skeptic who stands on reasoned doubts about the veracity of the Bible (and pray for a change of heart out of love for that person), but it is very difficult to respect a person who thinks (even possibly) that the owner’s manual to eternal life, right living, and joy authored by the Creator of all things is sitting on their bookshelf and they just don’t\u00a0take the time.<\/p>\n

This brings us to another piece from Nehemiah.<\/p>\n

\n

Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded , “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD wit their faces to the ground.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nehemiah 8:5-6<\/p>\n

Not only did these people have a hunger for the Word of God but huge reverence. When they saw that it was to be read, they all stood. They all responded enthusiastically “It is so! It is so!” or “So be it! So be it!” (that is, Amen<\/em>). Then they symbolize their reverence for the Word and for its author by bowing face down. I’m not sure if you’ve ever prayed to God or praised Him face down. It is an amazing thing. It is a position where it is hard to check your cell phone, watch TV, or otherwise be distracted. It is a place where instead of being elevated yourself, you recognize that God is elevated. It is the sort of place from which God can speak to you and pick you up again for great refreshing and great works.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0there is more.<\/p>\n

\n

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nehemiah 8:9-10<\/p>\n

And the people did as they were told. The Word of God so cut the people in what it said. It shone a light on their lives that revealed the delta between the lives they were living and the holiness of God and of the blessings He wished to pour out on them but because the sin that they heaped upon themselves, that they could only weep. That realization was just what they needed. From that realization comes repentance, a turning away from sin to God. From repentance comes the joy of the LORD and the joy of the LORD is your strength<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That simple idea has been the only thing that has gotten me out of bed on many a hard day. Those words echoing in my head have made many more days getting out of bed brighter and better. Knowing that God means us well, that the circumstances of life and even our own idiocy, ignorance, and indifference are\u00a0things that God can overcome and He will as we submit ourselves to His grace.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the people did not stop here. They came back all week long to hear more of the Word of God. They built outdoor shelters for themselves to remember the goodness of God in bringing them out of slavery. They did these things in unity, sating their hunger for God not with worldly lusts and temporary fixes but rather as we were designed, being in fellowship with our Creator.<\/p>\n

Consider this people’s hunger for God and His Word, their reverence for who He is and what He has given us in His Word. Consider the unity and passion with which they pursued Him. Now, commit (or recommit) to spending time with Him daily in His Word and prayer, knowing He will work through you and sustain you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All the people came together as one…They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel…He read it aloud from daybreak till noon…in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":236,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions\/236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marklandbenson.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}