Is there a God-honoring objective? A plan to take you there? A commitment to follow through?
The issue at hand was too serious to leave to their whims. Nehemiah wanted their verbal agreement memorialized in a vow. “Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise” (Neh 5:12). And to drive home the point, simple enough for a child to grasp, he gave an object lesson. “Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, ‘So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise’” (v 13). That certainly added meaning to the idea of being shaken up by what was said! The careful process—call a meeting, have a clear agenda, explain the problem, offer a solution, seal the deal, and explain the consequences of breaking their promise—was a signal success. “All the assembly said, ‘Amen!’ and praised the Lord. Then the people did according to this promise” (v 13). They praised the Lord? Yes, they knew what was done that day had God’s imprint on it. Nehemiah had been used by the Lord to bring them back into alignment with His will, and their consciences had been revived. What made the impact even greater was Nehemiah’s personal example. As the appointed governor of what was now a province of Persia, he had a food allowance for his official hospitality duties. “At my table were one hundred and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those who came to us from the nations around” (v 17). Previous governors had not only spent “the governor’s provisions” (v 14), but had heavily taxed the locals to add to their budget. Nehemiah did neither, “because of the fear of God” (v 15). Thank You, Lord, for honest, hard-working government officials who don’t fatten themselves on the public purse! “Remember [them]…for good” (v 19).