Today’s reading: Nehemiah 5:14-19
When I was growing up one of the things my parents told me often about being a Christian was that, “We need to practice what we preach.” And my parents made every effort to live according to that principle. Nehemiah followed this principle too.
In the first part of Nehemiah 5, Nehemiah confronts the officials and leaders for using their position to oppress and take advantage of the people over whom they have authority. So when Nehemiah finds himself in a position to take a daily food allowance at the expense of the people, he refuses to take it. And not only does he choose not to take the allowance, he goes even further. Nehemiah instead chooses to feed 150 men each day from his personal funds. He models–in a huge way–the godly leadership that he called his predecessors to practice.
“Now what was prepared at my expense for each day as one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people” (vs. 18).
Would you say that you “practice what you preach”? What’s one example of you doing this from the past week or so? Why is it important for your actions to line up with what you say and assert as a follower of Christ? Does your example make following Jesus attractive to others? Tami
Source: Tami’s Blog
