Attention to the Word - Thoughts on Nehemiah 8-9

OK, so I have wanted to do something like this for a while.  I want to invest some time bringing you the Word on a daily basis because it is God's Word that changes us.  Many of you have joined us as we have been reading through the Bible over the last 5 months (on a plan through YouVersion), which is great.  And there is a place in that reading plan to include comments, but it's kind of small.  And, you know me.  I'm wordy!  So, I hope to put some thoughts down daily here in the blog as they come to me.  Hopefully, God will use this, in conjunction with your reading to make an eternal impact.

As I read this passage this morning, I was struck by the devotion that these Jews had to the Word of God.  Ezra brought the Law to everyone who could understand it.  He read it from early in the morning until about midday.  They were all listening and paying attention to what he was reading.

Not only did he read it for hours, but they also spent time teaching it.  And they stood the entire time!!!  Can you imagine the love they must have had for God's Word to dedicate an entire day standing outside to listen to it?  Of course, they had been separated from the Law for 70 years as they were captives in Babylon.  So, this meant something to them.

I wonder sometimes if we take God's Word seriously.  Maybe we get so used to having 15 Bibles in our house and on our phones and hearing sermon after sermon after sermon that we (dare I say it) get bored with it.  But, God's Word is POWERFUL!  It changes us from the inside out.  It reveals to us the God of all the universe and what He has done to bring us to Him.

Now, I don't preach all day, although some of you might think I do.  But, my hope is that we would have a similar response to God's Word that these people had.  They respected God's Word.  They listened to God's Word.  It drove them to worship for the entire next week.  And it caused them in chapter 9 to recognize and confess their sins and to repent (change).  My prayer for all of us as we engage God's Word is that we would respond in a similar way for the sake of His kingdom.