“…went to work…built the adjoining section…rebuilt…repaired the next section…made repairs…restored…” (excerpts from Nehemiah 3).

Up until Jerusalem was sacked and its leading citizens taken into exile the city was central to the practice of the Jewish faith. It isn’t a surprise; therefore, that descendants of those exiles would long to return and rebuild.  Nehemiah was one of them.

It serves us well to remember God has always met people where they are in their spiritual understanding and grows them on from there. 

God had used the tangible city of Jerusalem, complete with its Temple, walls, gates and residents, to meet the people where they were. That same Jerusalem now helps us gain insight into the not-made-by-hands Kingdom of God that Jesus came to flesh-out for us. The centrality of Jerusalem then corresponds to the centrality of the Kingdom of God now. (And to the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21.)

This week we zero in on Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild the walls and gates of the broken-down neglected city of Jerusalem--with one eye on its relevance for us today.

On February 22—back when such things were possible—CCC held our annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Being feted were 200 or so people who had shown up over the past year so CCC could be a prayed-for, welcoming, smoothly run, biblically knowledgeable, worshipful, connected to God / one another / and Chatham County experience for all ages and stages of life.

Were we to write a chapter containing all of those volunteers’ names and what they did, it would look something like Nehemiah 3. 

Listed there are 37 named individuals and 14 groups of people. All were fully engaged in one giant volunteer endeavor to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and gates.

In Proverbs 25:28 we are told: Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

Joint efforts like those of Nehemiah and his people—like those of our CCC volunteers--require self-controlled individuals to pull them off. Self-control enables camaraderie and teamwork. It checks in-fighting. It supports perseverance. It resists opposition. It gets the job done!

When it comes to self-control, we all could use some rebuilding, right? 

Blessedly, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. That means we can partner with God who meets us where we are and grows us on from there. Part of that process is to abide in Him. Another part is us being in situations where self-control is needed. (Situations sure to move us to pray!)

Let’s pay attention to the state of our self-control today. Abide. And pray.