TODAY IS…

the day to ask God to help you put your heart into it.

“So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.”  Nehemiah 4:6 NIV

Rebuilding the wall surrounding Jerusalem was a very formidable task.

When it was made known that Nehemiah was organizing the Israelites to do just that, they were mocked and made fun of. Nehemiah prayed to God and then everyone put their heart into their work.

At some point in our lives, each one of us more than likely will face our own daunting tasks. We will all find it necessary to “rebuild a wall” of our own in some form or fashion.

It doesn’t matter what looms before us. Possibly it is as simple as an unpleasant chore around the house that we have been putting off. Perhaps it is the knowledge that the time has come for us to seek new employment. Our personal “wall” could be something we can do ourselves or may involve the aid of others to help us.

No matter what it may be, there is always one starting point, as demonstrated by Nehemiah: Praying to God and asking for His help. After that, knowing that the Lord is involved, we should be able to put our heart into whatever it is and enthusiastically go about the process of “rebuilding our wall.”

Not everything we do will loom before us as a formidable task, but no matter what we do, we should do two things:

1) Get God Involved. A good relationship with God will have us looking to Him automatically, before we do anything, and praying for help and guidance;

2) Put Your Heart Into It. Taking the first step makes the second step easier. God can help inspire us and create the spark that will ignite the fire of our enthusiasm.

The more we rely on God for everything that we do, the more He will do through us, and this should help to ignite the fire in our hearts in the same way that it did for Paul, as he demonstrated when he wrote, “So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.” (Romans 15:17 NLT).

Enthusiasm is contagious, and that is one ‘disease’ we should all desire to spread, especially when our enthusiasm is for service to God.

No matter how large or how small the task may be that lies before us, when we get God involved and put our hearts into it, before we know it, as with Nehemiah, our ‘wall’ will be built and, “When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized this work has been done with the help of our God.” (Nehemiah 6:11 NIV).

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson