Glory to God! The Lord has been good to us throughout the past week and He blessed us with a brand new week to enjoy His graciousness in our lives. Let us be thankful and grateful to God for His unending mercies and kindness towards our lives. The Lord has blessed us with a very significant Scripture passage (Nehemiah 8:2-3 / mentioned above) for our SftW meditation this week that is taken from the writings of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah (Nehemiah 1:1). He was the cupbearer to king Artaxerxes and a leader among the Jewish people in the captivity of the exiles in the citadel of Susa in Babylon as well as those in Jerusalem who was instrumental to repair and rebuild the broken wall of Jerusalem and later became the governor of the land of Judah appointed by king Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:10-11; 2:17-18; 5:14). The passage we chose for our meditation this week talks about the importance of keeping the righteous laws and decrees and commands the Lord our God has given us. It is very much important to read it, hear it, understand it, obey it, and practically live a life according to what it says, as Apostle Paul mentioned the importance of the Scripture the Lord our God has given us: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17; also refer to 2 Samuel 23:2; Romans 15:4; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

When the repairing and rebuilding work of the broken wall of Jerusalem had finished (Nehemiah 1:1-7:3); and Nehemiah was appointed as the governor of Judean territories (Nehemiah 5:14); and the people who continued to remain in the land and those who came from the Babylonian exile settled down well in the land (Nehemiah 7:73); all the people of the land – men, women, and all who were able to understand [that consists of the elders of the people, the teachers of the law, the leaders of the Jewish community, the statesmen like governor Nehemiah and other officials, and rest of the people in Jerusalem and Judah] came together as one and demanded to read, hear, and understand the Law of God (Nehemiah 8:1-12) and decided to live their life according to what it says (Nehemiah 8:13-18), which they continued to practice for an extended period of time as it is mentioned: Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly (Nehemiah 8:18; refer to Ezra 7:10). Ezra the priest stood up on a high wooden platform made for the occasion as he was reading from the book of the Law, so the people could see him while they were listening from the reading of the Book of the Law; and the people too stood up as the sign of their reverence for the listening of the Word of God. The glorified Christ spoke to Apostle John in a vision, saying: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near (Revelation 1:3). During His earthly ministry, Jesus taught His followers that true spiritual blessing comes from reading, listening, and obeying the Word of God, as it is mentioned: Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28). The Scripture also prevents anyone to add to what the Lord commands to us or subtract from it, rather just obey and do what the Lord commands us to do, as it is mentioned: Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you (Deuteronomy 4:2; also refer to 6:17; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19).

In regards to following God’s Law, the Lord their God spoke to their forefathers through His servant Moses and set the standard for their spiritual and communal and personal life, as it is mentioned: For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess (Deuteronomy 30:16: also refer to 4:40; 6:25; 11:1). This was the reason, when the people heard from the book of the Law as Ezra the priest was reading it loudly in their hearing, they were weeping and mourning and grieving (Nehemiah 8:9b) as they repented of their failures of not faithfully following the righteous laws and decrees and commands the Lord their God gave them to observe. However, Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all not to mourn or weep or grieve, rather rejoice in the Lord that the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:9-11). Then, the people were joyful and greatly rejoiced for the favor of the Lord their God was upon them (Nehemiah 8:12, 17). All these factors show us that it is important to read, hear, understand, and obey the Word of God and do what it says to us.

Dear friends in the Lord, as we are about to conclude our this week’s meditation, let us know the reality that we are living in a society that is filled with so much of social discrepancies and economic liabilities and negative and damaging media influences and so on. Though the promises of this world sounds like realistic and true, most of the time they are not the way we think of. Even if, it is realistic and true in its impressions, for most of us it is not useful as it comes like a shooting star very far off from the ground-level and disappear it in to the unknown realms. However, the promises of God are realistic and true and it will come to pass at its appointed time, as prophet Habakkuk foretold: For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3). King David who experienced God’s faithfulness in his personal and communal life testified, saying: As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him (Psalm 18:30; also refer to 2 Samuel 22:31; Hosea 14:9). Therefore, we, as His chosen people, let us read, hear, and understand the Word of God and live our life accordingly. Let us not allow negative thoughts or words or actions to emerge from our hearts and minds; instead, let us foster godly thoughts in our hearts and minds and cherish them for our own benefits and for the benefits of everyone else around us as the One who called us is faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24). May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!