Monday - So Did Not I

Nehemiah 5:14–15 – "Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor. But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God."

Every governor before Nehemiah leaned on the people. They took money and food to support themselves, and nobody thought twice about it. It was legal. It was expected. It was simply how things were done. But right in the middle of all that, Nehemiah draws a line in the sand with four of the most powerful words a leader can ever say: "But so did not I."

What everybody is doing has never once made a wrong thing right. The crowd is not the standard. The majority is not the measure of right and wrong. So-and-so cut the corner, so-and-so told the lie, so-and-so did the thing everybody does — but so did not I.

Notice the reason he gives. Not, "I was too proud to take it." Not, "I didn't need it." But, "because of the fear of God."That is the root underneath everything else we will see this week. Remember, the fear of God isn't terror — it's awe. It's not running from God; it's standing before Him in reverence, so aware of who He is that you can't bring yourself to sin against Him.

Reflect:

Where in your life are you tempted to do something simply because "everybody does it"?
Is your standard the people around you, or the God above you?