September 10: Nehemiah 8:2-3
 
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8:3
He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
 
Devotion:
Nehemiah was urged to find out who was there in Jerusalem after the walls and gates had been completed. The city was on lock-down during night hours and gates were only to be opened after the sun had warmed up the day. Unlike the UK, this would probably have been quite early in the morning due to the hotter days there.
 
Some of the people who claimed to be descendants of the priests were excluded because their names had not been recorded in the family trees. This may sound harsh, but this was in accordance with the laws for the Jews at that time. Why was this done? Because Nehemiah was about to ask for the law to be read out and he did not want small things like this to get in the way of people listening to the law.
 
When we read God’s word, we should prepare ourselves to do just that. There is nothing worse than having something on your mind which will distract you even before you get to grips with what God would want you to hear. We should try to put aside the distractions of the world before we commune with God otherwise we will be fighting our minds trying to listen to two or more things at the same time.
 
God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. This means putting aside things which will take us away from that relationship. The reward for making our relationships personal is a much better and deeper relationship with God. Set time aside to calm yourself and your life down a bit before you next read God’s Word – you will find you get much more out of it!
 
Points to Ponder:
How do you treat your personal relationships?
 
Will you aim to have a deeper relationship with God?