The Importance of Commitment

The Importance of Commitment

Nehemiah 10:1-39

Take your Bibles and turn the Nehemiah chapter ten. AS we continue to learn what God requires of his people to go to the next level with him, we are going to be challenged with the importance of commitment.

In Nehemiah chapter ten we have the people of God making a written agreement or commitment with the Lord. You could say that they want to make sure that they are on God’s side.

Chapter ten actually starts in chapter nine. The first verse of chapter ten in the Hebrew Bible is actually the last verse of chapter nine in the English Bible.

Verse thirty-eight says, “Now because of all this we are making an agreement in writing and on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priest.” I would say that verse thirty-eight serves as a great transition verse between the two chapters. It brings the worship and confession to its acceptable conclusion, which is a commitment to the Lord. At the same time, it introduces us to the commitments that are being made throughout the chapter.

As the people reflected upon God’s mercy and experienced his grace in chapter nine, they could not help but respond to God by offering their lives to God as living sacrifices. This is why the first part of verse thirty-eight says, “Now because of all of this…” Because of what? God’s grace and mercy.

Now some suggest that what the people of God are doing in this tenth chapter is making a covenant with the Lord. But, in reality, they are making a “firm agreement” to live their lives in accordance with the former covenant that the Lord established through Moses. In short, they are recommitting their lives to the Lord.

Some people are critical of recommitments or rededications, but they shouldn’t be. I used to be, but not any more. I have found in my twenty-years of walking with the Lord that everyday that I wake up, I must recommit my life, renew my covenant with the Lord. I must recommit my life to the Lord on an ongoing basis.

I also need weekly recommitment that comes through my corporate worship experiences with my church family, and then special times of recommitment that comes around the Lord’s Table.

I will also say that when certain events happen in my life, I often find myself needing to recommit my life to the Lord. When God started calling my family to Arkansas, our family had to recommit ourselves to God’s will and plan for our lives. So you see, recommitment is something that we must do on an ongoing basis.

Have you ever had the opportunity to watch a married couple renew their wedding vows to one another? They say, “I do” all over again. That is what recommitment is for God’s people. It is we saying, “I do, and I will” over and over again.

What is significant about the covenant-renewal taking place in this chapter is its corporate nature. It wasn’t just one or two people recommitting their lives; it was the whole community.

The first twenty-eight verses we see how many people renewed their commitment with the Lord. In the list of names recorded you will find 21 priestly leaders, 17 Levite leaders, and 44 political leaders. All of these leaders sign their names to the “firm agreement” document.

In verse twenty-eight we see how the rest of the people committed themselves verbally to the agreement, “Now the rest of the people, the priest, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, all those who had knowledge and understanding.” This commitment included children and young people who had knowledge and understanding.

God’s people were committing their lives to the Lord. They are recommitting their lives to put God first. If we are going to go to the next level with the Lord then we will need to be committed to putting God first individually and corporately. The first commitment that must be made is a commitment to the authority of the word of God.

1. Commitment to the authority of the word of God

In verse twenty-eight it reads, “Now the rest of the people, the priest, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the land to the law of God.”

This verse reminds us of what the people did back in verse three of chapter nine, “The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and their iniquities of their fathers.” This separation was not out of arrogance, but dedication to the word of God. They had been convicted of their sins and the separation was a sign of their repentance.

Notice carefully what verse twenty-eight says, “”all those who separated themselves from the peoples of the land to the law of God.” They turned to the law of God. They committed themselves to the authority of the word of God.

It says also in verse twenty-eight and twenty-nine, “their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, are joining with their kinsman, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes.”

What is taking place in these two verses is a general commitment to the authority of the word of God. There really is no higher or significant commitment that this concerning the authority of the word of God.

If the Bible is God’s book, and it is, then we must submit ourselves, our congregation, our convention to the Sovereign Lord and his word. God has revealed what we need to know about him and what he requires of us in his word. Therefore, this divine book must rule supreme over us.

The great battle that has raged in the last century has been over the nature and authority of the Bible. Science and higher criticism, or liberalism, post-modernism has cast doubt upon the nature of the Bible. This has resulted in the authority of the Bible being tossed aside.

I believe it was about a year ago; a controversial book hit the bookshelves. It is titled “The Shack.” Over the past year there has been a great deal of discussion of the content of this book. I must admit that I brushed it aside because the book is fiction, and I thought people would understand that the book was fiction.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case for some professing Christians. In fact, I have been disturbed by statements such as, “The Shack confirmed many things I have always believed about God and people.” This is very disturbing because the god of “The Shack” is not the God of the Bible.

There are at least 13 heresies found in “The Shack.” I can’t get into them all at this time, but I do have them listed on my blog, which you can get to from our website.

I do want to touch upon of few of those for the sake of illustration. “The Shack” teaches that there are many paths to God. It teaches that there is no need for faith or reconciliation with God because everyone will make it to heaven. This is what we call pluralism and universalism. It also teaches that the Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper.

So you can see why I am disturbed when professing Christians say, “The Shack” confirmed what I believe about God and people.”

The word of God is our authority, not “The Shack,” or science. The Bible is God-breathed and inspired. Christians must be committed to the authority of the word of God. The church must be committed to the authority of the word of God.

Now, being committed to the authority of the word of God is not popular. Being committed to the authority of God’s word will leave you feeling isolate an alone. You are not isolated, you are not alone; God is with you. The grass withers, and the flowers fall off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Next, we need to be committed to the revealed will of God.

2. Commitment to the revealed will of God

It is one thing to sign a document stating your commitment to the authority of the word of God. It is another level commitment needed to submit and obey the revealed will of God found in the word of God.

The people of God during Nehemiah’s day understood their need to submit to the will of God. In verses thirty through thirty-nine we see four specific areas that God’s people were committing to obey the will of God. These areas were areas that they had tragically failed to obey in the past. They committed be obedient in their walk with the Lord.

a. Walk with the Lord

In verse thirty is reads, “And that we will not give our daughters to the people of the land or take their daughters for our sons.” The issue that is being addressed is not a racial issue, but a spiritual issue. The concern God’s people being led away from the Lord to worship pagan God is being addressed. Now these precepts were carried over into the New Covenant. The apostle Paul commanded Christians not “to be bound to unbelievers.” The concern was spiritual infidelity.

God has called his people to be “in the world, but not of the world.” We are set apart by God and are called to separate ourselves from worldliness. Christians are constantly tempted and seduced by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. There are too many Christians who are committing spiritual adultery. Too many believers not committed to their walk with the Lord. It takes a daily recommitment and focus to maintain our walk with the Lord.

I find it interesting that this type of commitment begins with the family. Family is the laboratory for godliness. Fathers, parents, are you leading and teaching your children to be in the world, but not of the world?

When you realign you focus on obeying the will of God, it will redirect you in every area of your life, especially in the area of family. Next, we see a commitment to the worship of the Lord.

b. Worship of the Lord

In verse thirty-one it reads, “As for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or holy days; and we will forgo the crops the seventh years and the exaction of every debt.” The commitment they made was to the Fourth Commandment. God commanded Israel to keep the Sabbath holy to the Lord. For the Jew, this meant and means that every Saturday is a day given to worship the Lord, a day to honor God, to rest in him, and help others.

For six days they would labor, but on the seventh day, they were to give undisturbed worship to the Lord. All the distractions of everyday life are to be set apart for the Lord.

One of the temptations that Israel constantly gave into was not observing the Sabbath. All the other nations were shopping, and selling, and competing on the Sabbath, they often followed their example instead of obeying the will of the Lord. With this commitment to worship the Lord on the Sabbath came also a commitment to witness for the Lord.

c. Witness for the Lord

When the Israelites obeyed the Lord in keeping the Sabbath, they committed themselves to proclaiming the truth about the Lord, and his supremacy and authority over their lives.

The nations around them didn’t have a Sabbath. They worked everyday of the week. When Saturday rolled around, many of those pagan merchants could not understand why the Jewish community was not working.

When Israel obeyed God in keeping the Sabbath, it gave them an opportunity to tell the unbelieving people around them that their allegiance to God transcends business transactions, domestic concerns, and social obligations.

Under the New Covenant, we have been given a new day to honor the Lord. We call it the Lord’s day at it is on the first day of the week. Sunday gives Christians a wonderful opportunity to worship and witness. But do we actually use Sundays to honor the Lord? Do we use it to rest, pray, read and serve Christ? Or do we pay homage to God just enough to make ourselves feel good, and then spend the rest of the day like world?

How many of you have every pulled up in the drive-thru of a Chic-fil-a, only to find that nobody was working. It took me twice to realize that Chic-fil-a is closed on Sundays. I then found out that the owner of Chic-fil-a, Truett Cathy is a follower of Christ, and because of his desire to honor the Lord; his business is closed on Sundays. I love the fact that the whole world knows Truett Cathy’s allegiance to the Lord.

What about your Sundays? Do they show the world that your allegiance is to the Lord? Do your Sundays give you opportunities to witness to your neighbors because your Sundays are different from your neighbors? Next, we see a commitment to the work of the Lord.

d. Work of the Lord

The commitment made in verses thirty-two through thirty-nine is the longest. When you read these nine verses you see very quickly what they were committing themselves to. In all nine verses you will find the phrase “the house of our God,” with the exception of verse thirty-five were you have “the house of the Lord.” The commitment comes to its climax in the last phrase of verse thirty-nine, “Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.” They are referring to the rebuilt temple.

At the heart of Israel’s religious, moral, and political life stood the temple. It symbolized God’s presence among his people and the centrality of God in all aspects of life. As they made their commitment they focused on the service and work of the house of the Lord. We see in these verses a commitment to four things. In verse thirty-two a commitment to the temple tax. This helped support the continual service and work of the house of the Lord. In verse thirty-four they committed to the wood offering, which enabled the fire to continually burn at the brazen altar. In verses thirty-five through thirty-six they committed to the first fruits offering, and in verses thirty-seven through thirty-nine they committed to the tithe.

In applying their commitment to our modern situation, I believe we can break it down into three areas of commitment for supporting the work of the Lord. First, we must be committed to support the work of the Lord with our finances.

i. Finances

The temple tax and the tithe were obligation that the people had to God concerning their finances. The commitment in these verses reveals that their giving was responsible, sacrificial, and consistent.

God’s people under the New Covenant have the same responsibility. God wants us to trust him and worship him with the finances that he provides for us.

A good indication were someone is spiritually can be revealed by their checkbook. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Next, we see they were committed to support the work of the Lord with their time and talents.

ii. Time and talents

In verse thirty-four we see the commitment to the wood offering, “Likewise we cast lots (B)for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers' households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the law”

If you are going to have a burnt offering then you need a fire at the altar. If you are going to have a fire at the altar you need wood. If you are going to need wood then you will need people committed to bring the wood.

In a very practical application to us, we see this type of commitment when people give their time and talents to support the work of the Lord. When you share your time and talents to serve the Lord, you are keeping the fire burning. We can all give our time to pray, to listen, to encourage, visiting, to share with others, and when we do, we are keeping the fire burning.

When revival begins to take place in a body of believers, it reveals itself in how we support the work of God beginning with our local church.

One of my best friends and fellow pastor, went through a trying time last October. He came to a point where he needed to recommit his life to the Lord. He wrote out what he calls a Declaration of Dependence. Here is what it says.

And he signed it.

Today, Christians are encouraged to recommit themselves to the Lord. Will you do it? For some, this means that you become a member of our church by letter or statement. For others, it means that you recommit your life to the revealed will of God found in the word of God.

Others are here today, and you need to commit your life to Jesus. You realize that you are a sinner, and need a savior. If that is you, then turn to Jesus today and place your faith in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus, and you will be saved.