Nehemiah’s boldness to speak out!

 

I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Neh 2:3

For Jews, Jerusalem was more than just another place to live. The city of Jerusalem was the symbol of God’s power and authority. Jerusalem was the place of the presence of God, where God’s glory and power manifested. The very presence of God with the people of Judah, which melted the hearts of the enemies (Josh 2:11), now had become an object of ridicule.

All who pass your way
    clap their hands at you;
they scoff and shake their heads
    at Daughter Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
    the perfection of beauty,
    the joy of the whole earth?”

All your enemies open their mouths
    wide against you;
they scoff and gnash their teeth
    and say, “We have swallowed her up.
This is the day we have waited for;
    we have lived to see it.” Lam 2:15,16

This reproach on God and His people were burning like a fire in Nehemiah’s heart. The zeal for God’s glory was consuming him. This pushed him to speak out, even after knowing that the king Artaxerxes himself has stopped the reconstruction of the city (Ezra 4:18-22) and it could cost his life to speak out. He was not afraid of the king who could kill his body, since he had the reverential fear of the One who could destroy both body and the soul in the hell (Matthew 10:28).

How bold are we to speak out for the Lord?

Do we have the courage to confess that He is the Savior, He is the Lord of our life,  before men, in our workplace, before our unbelieving friends?

Paul says that it is the love of Christ compels, urges and impels him not to live for himself but to live for Him who died for us!! (2 Corinthians 5:14,15) May this love of Christ, who died for us when we were yet sinners, compel us, urge us and impel us to confess Him before men!!

Matthew 10:32-33
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

“கிறிஸ்துவினுடைய அன்பு எங்களை நெருக்கி ஏவுகிறது;”
‭‭2 கொரிந்தியர்‬ ‭5:14