SUNDAY - 4TH JULY, 2021
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE - Olusola ADEJUMO
THE BEAT THAT HITS
READ Nehemiah 1, 2:1-5
Nehemiah 1:4, KJV
"And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven."
There are some that it won't concern. In every place and at every time an event happens, some people would be touched while some others would wonder at why people give attention. They'll even mock those who hear and are moved. Today, God wants you to have emotion and be moved with whatsoever happens to your homeland. This is Nehemiah today serving Artaxerxes. Hanani and some other Jews came around to diaspora where he was. He requested after the welfare of the left-behind Jews. Suddenly, Nehemiah was soon in a mourning state. He was soon in a state of fasting and request for mercy for Jerusalem over the saddened report. You should ask, "over what?"
Nehemiah 1:3, KJV
"And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire."
That was what Nehemiah couldn't recover from. It so much affected him that he was observed by the king whom he ought not to serve in unhappiness. But because the king saw this was not his habit, he also concluded it can only be one thing, sorrow of heart. At the king's request, he made it known how he'll love to return to Jerusalem to build the place of his fathers' sepulchres. When you hear uncomfortable things about your country, do you remain indifferent? Do you curse it the more or you bless and turn to the Lord in prayer? The scattering with which the Jews were scattered was linked to their forsaking Yahweh. God had promised to sell them out if they follow after other gods. So, we can say it was what they caused. Yet, Nehemiah never blamed anyone nor reign curses on his city. He just took it up. He was just a server at the king's palace but his influence was like that of a king as given favour by God.
God wants you to be patriotic and consumed with jealousy and zeal for your fatherland. Nehemiah kept repeating something, "it is the land of my father's sepulchre." That is, monuments are there. That's my origin. Things that can't be let go are there. So, there's only one option: to rise and repair it for dwelling again because if we fail to do so, we would lose all these sepulchres that bear references to us and which we bear references to. Look at how a child of the soil spoke good of his country before strangers even when the country is in its weakened and diminished state. If you take sample, many are not patriotic. They've forgotten that life and death is in the power of the tongue. They've forgotten a city is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked and built by the blessings of the righteous. Should you hear atrocities, war, political instability etc in your country with a fast response of hauling abuses at her leaders and cursing the land? Is it because you're in diaspora that makes you so comfortable and unconcerned? That shouldn't be. Your curses won't turn anything. It would only sink it. Be the change you want to see by beginning to pull rank with your country or continent as if it is lacking in nothing even when it has its shortcomings. We all have biological families and each of us in it have our mess yet we celebrate and say one another well in public. Many haven't changed families but have changed their nationalities.
You must know that if your country is no more, you're somehow no more because there wouldn't be a place you can be traced to as origin. You'll just be a refugee or expatriate in another man's nation. Today, be Nehemiahic. Let the beat of your country's happenings collect positive responses from you while you serve her in your capacity either at home or in diaspora. We identify patriotic citizens at their countries embarrassing moments.
PRAYER: I vow to stand in gap for my fatherland in love, strength and patriotism. I shall defend it in truth and pray for it in fervency.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 22:3-23:30, Acts 21:37-22:16, Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 18:11-12
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