Ten years had changed many things. Tobiah had moved into the temple property, and the storehouse had been converted into bedrooms for him and his family. With a righteous indignation, Nehemiah drove the scorning enemy out of the temple and out of the city.
As he came to the fields outside the city, Nehemiah noticed that the Levites and the temple singers were in the fields tilling and sowing. Their job was to oversee the ministry of God’s house, not to work in fields. They were called to do a specific job, and others were to provide for their needs, but since no one had provided them with food, they had been forced to sow and harvest their own crops. This meant that there would be times when the workload was so great that no one would be doing the functions of the temple. There would be no sacrifices for sin. There would be no singing to God. There would be no worshipping God. The ministers would be too busy with the common every day grind of harvesting crops that they would not be able to do the greater eternal work.
Nehemiah rushed into the temple property and called together the rulers of the people. He showed them the dilemma, and re-established the system whereby people would provide for the workers of God. God’s work must get done. People must contribute. God was too great to be ignored.
At times, we get too busy with the menial that we fail to see the eternal. Sadly, everyone becomes so focused on their own goals, that God’s desires are sidelined. The question of “What do you want to do with your life?” has replaced the greater, “What do you think God would have you do?” The temporal is often so shiny and flashy, that our eyes are distracted from the eternal.
Perhaps we need to widen our spiritual eyes. We need to have eternal vision like Nehemiah. We must be able to see the eternal component in all the things we do. We must view our interactions, and our desires as kingdom building, or kingdom inhibiting. God’s ongoing eternal work is too valuable to be forgotten and neglected.
Food For Thought: How can we view our daily menial tasks with eternal vision?
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