It strikes me as strange that, after re-reading the Law and repenting of their sin, the Israelites went back to some of their old habits. Nehemiah stepped back in to remind them that almost doing what God wants is the same as not doing what God wants. This is something that scares me in our modern culture because we live in a day and age where we can pick what we want and leave what we don't want behind. The advent of iPods is, in my mind, one of the things that brought this to America. Now don't get me wrong, I love my iPod, but one of the reasons I love it is because I can pick and choose what I want to listen to. I no longer have to listen to a whole tape just to hear the three songs I liked by the artist. Unfortunately, people are applying this to Christianity. It is often viewed as a buffet line full of food from which we can pick and choose. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. God's Word is all or nothing; we don't have the liberty to leave out those things that don't fit our fancy or that cramp our style of living. Nehemiah had to remind the people of that. Sadly, it's a reminder that we still need some 2000+ years later.
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