As we were finishing up Nehemiah, we discussed some of prior days events and prayed over certain situations that happened after the party. We received some bad news today… some pertaining to possible assaults and arrests. We prayed for those involved and for those family members affected by the situation.

Who are we that we neglect the Lord’s day. Nehemiah 9 recalls all the great things God has done in the history of Israel. The people confess their sins and repent. As they were reading the law of God they saw that some of the things they were doing were evil in God’s eyes. They allowed certain foreigners in the assembly of God (13:1-3), did not give to God’s servants (13:6-11), they neglected some of their duties as well as not keeping the Sabbath holy (13:15-22), they married foreign women who worshiped other gods (13:23-27).

Some of the major reforms Nehemiah makes at the end of the book are extreme, but they were in accord with scripture. This reading led us to think, how should we keep the Sabbath holy especially on our Sundays and in this present time? We have usually spent time at church, but we also saw that God desires us for more than 2-3 hours. How do we truly make God first and especially on the sabbath?

We decided to cut back on activities that we did/commit to on Sundays. Stuff especially like shopping and eating out. It looked like commerce was one thing that Nehemiah had to shut down by closing the gates. Selling of food and brining loads on donkeys, etc. We looked at our lives and saw that these things should have been done throughout the week and so we would be able to rest and enjoy God on Sundays. This also included working on Sundays, which I sometimes fall in the habit of doing, especially at the Sunday at the end of the quarters where all my work is due.

We have sinned against God and we repent.