QT 12/01/2025 Sun. Nehemiah 10. The Blessed Sincere Re-Commitment. 有福的真诚委身。
QT 12/01/2025 Sun. Nehemiah 10. The Blessed Sincere Re-Commitment.
READ http://www.esvbible.org/neh10
In the modern world inclined towards "no strings attached", no strings attached relationship, no strings attached membership, would "commitment" in the things of God even start to make sense?
Nehemiah 10:39 For the people of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the contribution of grain, wine, and oil to the chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary are, as well as the priests who minister, and the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the house of our God.” (ESV)
Jeremiah 31:31–34 had prophesied that the restored community of God would really experience forgiveness and would be genuinely inclined to obey God's law. This genuinely inclination means that the forgiven person would tilt towards seeking after God's laws, rather than trying to explain it away so as to avoid obedience. This genuine inclination means that a worshipper would strive to clear all obstacles from their calendars so that nothing can hinder the approach towards worshiping God, instead of dropping the things of God at the slightest wind of opposition.
REFLECTION: Would you commit to seek after God by genuine inclination, rather than being prodded all the time towards things of God?
We applaud the contemporaries of Nehemiah who said that "we will not neglect the house of our God" (10:39). But they were in the same situation in their history—
Exodus 24:7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” (ESV)
Even though God's people have strayed after all these years, Nehemiah 10 encourages worshippers of all time to return to God while they still can, so as to experience God's blessings. Nehemiah 10 looks like a covenant renewal event—the worshippers hear God's word again and then respond with a commitment to obey.
LEARNING POINT: God is willing to forgive, but this forgiveness is not extended to all who merely verbally or physically mumbles words of forgiveness without any connection to the heart or mind. True forgiveness and experience of it come to those who really understand sin and their own sinfulness, and appreciates God's willingness to forgive by deciding on a correct response from a re-committed heart, a response that pleases God.
In order to be reconciled to God, worshippers today must be honest about what they had done that hurt God's heart and our relationship with Him. Nehemiah 10:28–39 sets our examples of how they were going to re-commit to God. Be it matters of Sabbath, sustenance of the altar of worship, the fruits to be brought, or the tithes, two key words seem to surface: (1) priority, (2) quality.
We see their sincere re-commitment in the PRIORITY of their care for worship in their temple—God's matters first before our own business. We also see it via the QUALITY of what they bring—give the best to your Master, rather than offering the left-overs, the near expiry products, or the nobody-want things in your household. Nehemiah's contemporaries gave their best and gave their firsts. Would you sincerely re-commit and thus receive God's blessings?
QT 12/01/2025 星期日. 尼希米 10. 有福的真诚委身。
http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/neh/10
在倾向于 “无附加条件” 的现代世界里、无附加条件的关系、无附加条件的会员制，在上帝的事情上 “委身 ” 还有意义了吗？
尼希米记 10:39 以色列人和利未人要把五谷、新酒、新油作举祭，带到贮存圣所器皿的贮藏室，就是供职的祭司、守门的和歌唱的居住的地方。我们决不会疏忽供应我们 神的殿。
《耶利米书》31:31-34 曾预言，上帝恢复的群体将真正经历宽恕，并真正倾向于遵守上帝的律法。这种真正的倾向意味着，被宽恕的人会倾向于寻求上帝的律法，而不是试图解释以逃避顺从。这种真正的倾向意味着，敬拜者会努力清除日程表上的所有障碍，以便没有任何东西可以阻碍他们对上帝的敬拜，而不是一有一点点的拦阻就放弃上帝的事情。
反思：你是否愿意委身以真正的意愿来寻求上帝，而不是一直被催促着去做上帝的事情？
尼希米的同代人说：“我们决不会疏忽供应我们 神的殿”（10:39），我们为他们鼓掌。但在他们的历史中，他们也遇到了同样的情况
出埃及记 24:7 他又把约书拿过来，念给人民听；他们说：“耶和华吩咐的一切话，我们都必遵行和听从。”
尽管上帝的子民在这么多年后已经迷失了方向，但尼希米记 10 章鼓励所有的敬拜者在他们还可以的时候回到上帝身边，从而经历上帝的祝福。《尼希米记》第 10 章看起来就像一次重立盟约的活动--敬拜者们再次听到神的话语，然后以承诺顺服作为回应。
学习要点：上帝愿意饶恕，但这种饶恕并不是给所有只是口头或身体上喃喃自语，却与心灵或思想没有任何联系的人的。真正的宽恕和宽恕的体验是属于那些真正理解罪和自己的罪性的人身上，他们通过从一颗重新委身的心做出正确的回应来感激上帝的宽恕意愿，这种回应是上帝所喜悦的。
为了与神和好，今天的敬拜者必须坦诚自己做了什么伤害了神的心和我们与神的关系。尼希米记 10：28-39 为我们树立了榜样，告诉我们将如何重新向神委身。无论是安息日、敬拜祭坛的供养、带来的初熟果子还是十一奉献，似乎都有两个关键词：（1）优先；（2）质量。
我们从他们对圣殿敬拜的优先关注中看到了他们真诚的重新委身--先有上帝的事，后有我们自己的事。我们还从他们所带来的东西的质量上看到了这一点--把最好的东西献给耶和华你的神，而不是献上剩菜剩饭、快过期的产品或家里没人要的东西。尼希米同时代的人奉献了他们最好的，也奉献了他们的初熟的农作收入。你愿意真诚地重新委身，从而得到上帝的祝福吗？
