Rise up, and build

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate. Neh. 3:1

I love the third chapter of Nehemiah. It is a record of the folks who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. You not only have high priests, but people from every walk of life it seems, such as goldsmiths (8), Shallum and his daughters (12), and folks who lived along the wall (23). The project of course was headed up and overseen by the visionary Nehemiah, but the reality is that the wall would never have been finished if the rest of the people in the city had not pitched in and helped. We can be thankful that not everyone was like the nobles of Tekoa, who "put not their necks to the work of the Lord" (5).

And so it is with the church. The church grows as each member does his or her part (cf. Eph. 4:15-16). God help us to be delivered from the attitude and mindset that we have nothing to contribute towards the edification of the church. If you are a Christian, God has given you the sword and trowel of spiritual gifts, gifts which are "the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor. 12:7, ESV). Rise up and build, and let us not be not like the nobles of Tekoa but like Eliashib and his brethren, and let the cause of God and truth be blessed by our work of faith and prayer.