Wednesday: Purpose and Passion
What do the following texts teach us about the driving force in the lives of both Ezra and Nehemiah? (Neh. 2:1-10, Ezra 7:8-10).
In all that they did, Ezra and Nehemiah were seeking to see God’s will done in the lives of His people. Yes, the people had messed up; yes, they were punished for it. But God, faithful to His promises of restoration, opened the way for His people to return to the Promised Land and, if faithful, to fulfill the goals that He had set for them.
Image © Classic Bible Art Coll. Goodsalt.com
And the Lord, in His wisdom, chose two very dedicated men, men somewhat in the likeness of Moses, to play a central role in this restoration, just as He had used Moses generations earlier for a special task, as well.
Great leaders like these two men have a goal. They have a purpose for living that drives their every action. It could be said that both Ezra and Nehemiah had a purpose in life. They had a vision of where they wanted the people of God to be, and then they put everything into accomplishing the goal.
Ezra did this through studying the Scriptures and teaching the people the Word. Nehemiah encouraged the people to do what was right and to stand up boldly for God. Both men wanted to see a restored Jerusalem, but not just a material restoration. They also wanted to see a revival and reformation in the spiritual lives of its inhabitants. That is why they corrected, reproved, and sometimes demanded a certain course of action. Great leaders believe in something greater than the ordinary and the mediocre. Ezra and Nehemiah believed in a loving, powerful God, a God who could do miracles — and they wanted everyone to have a deep connection with Him.
Beginning with the first chapter of Nehemiah, the reader is impressed by Nehemiah’s dedication to God’s cause and also his distress over the plight of his people. In chapter 1, he weeps when he is told of the hardships of the Israelites in Judah. He gets on his knees and pledges to do whatever God calls him to do. Nehemiah appears to be driven by the idea of making a difference in the world. He was a man of action, action for God. It was not by making the highest salary or having the preeminent position that Nehemiah chose to make a difference (although he had both in Persia), but by going to Judah, to a not-so-prosperous nation, with opposition at every step. He stepped out in faith, regardless of the obstacles before him.
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In the modern business world, success is measured in terms of money. A successful CEO is paid immoral amounts of money. A company is successful if it returns large quantities of money to its shareholders. Such thinking often warps the sense of purpose of organisations to the extent that they have a twisted sense about what they are really supposed to do. Recently a large pharmaceutical company bought up a smaller company that was making an important medication that kept many people from suffering. Once they owned the smaller company they immediately put the price up on the product that it had been producing. The CEO was asked in a public interview why he had done this, and he made the mistake of being brutally honest. He said that they had seen a business opportunity and had acted on it. Their mission was not to help sick people, but to make money for their shareholders! With a goal like that, small wonder that pharmaceutical companies have lost the confidence of those who use their medications.
It is interesting that Nehemiah and Ezra did not seem interested in making a pile of gold out of the rebuilding of the nation. They wanted that new nation to succeed. They modelled the idea of servant leadership.
And that brings us to the pointy end of this lesson. Is the goal of our spiritual life to gain eternal life for ourselves? Is it our goal to live in the city with streets of gold and with foundations of 12 layers of precious stones, surrounded by parklands full of lions and lambs living together in harmony?
Here are a couple of verses to think about in this context:
The "successful" people of Christ's day thought that Christ was a failure because he did not save himself. Other accounts say they made a joke of him, or that they would believe him if he saved himself. They missed the point.
And that is where we need to rethink the whole idea of salvation. It is not about begin saved ourselves but about saving others.
The motivation of Ezra and Nehemiah comes from the fact that they both understand that God keeps his promises and that if we trust in him he will lead us and see us through. So Nehemiah prays and trusts in God and Ezra studies the scriptures and purposes to teach the word to others.
By example they then influence the post exiljc Jews positively despite the challenges and difficulties that see the rebuildin work completed.
We need leaders who can influence through faith in God and through the scriptures to rebuild our spiritual lives and of others unto salvation.
Maurice, I rarely take issue with the tone of your comments but in this case I unapologetically disagree and come to the defense of Capitalism. I was a small business man and made a good living and not an “immoral” income ( buy whose standards). The risk and sacrifices I took to get there are unknown by anyone while my business supported multiple families. Here is the point. It is the process of capitalism, including returning profit, dividends to shareholders and paying CEOs “immoral” amounts of money that has dragged nations and the poor out poverty and lifted them into relative comfort all over the world. There is NO OTHER system devised by Man, given to him by God, that has come close to helping as many people as Capitalism supported by representative democracy. It is liberty and private property rights including “immoral” CEO compensation and investor return, that drives the substantial RISK/SACRAFICE that individuals and investors take to create WEALTH that drives a system that lifts ALL boats. Yes, there is abuse, but the wealth and the philanthropy that Capitalism produces far outweigh that abuse. Respectfully
Ah, fair comment. And perhaps I should have been more careful in not condemning the system but rather the abuse of the system. Selfishness and self-centredness rears its head, even in Christianity.
I do agree there is abuse just like there is sin in the world.
"Is the goal of our spiritual life to gain eternal life for ourselves?" No, in helping save others we save ourselves.
And yes, sharing the gospel of Christ, i.e. letting our light shine, also gives us eternal life, living forever on streets of gold, with a county cabin and garden out back full of fruits, nuts , grains, and vegetables. What a wounderful eternity is in store for us.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
John 14:1-3 KJV
Believing in Him is recieved by getting to know Him, and blessing others with The Good News of the Gospel.
Our lesson study states Purpose and Passion.
Passion is about emotion and gives energy to the purpose.
Very often we have heard people say, "Follow your passion"
We are a society driven by emotion.
We are emotionally involved on the hot topic of the day.
However, the moment we are faced with another hot topic we forget what we were dealing with run with the new topic at hand.
Politicians are good at manipulating our emotions to distract us from being focused on topics.
We start many of the programs with such enthusiasm but as the days wears on unless we have a strong purpose driving that passion we loose focus.
Therefore be careful how you attend to the work of the Lord.
My purpose and passion is to be transformed into His likeness Rom 12:1-2
1John 3:2
One thing that stands out is the fact that if your have purpose and passion for heavenly matters you will be remembered eternally. I imagine that if Nehemiah chose to focus on matters of Persia most probably we could not be reading about him. He chose eternal matters thus why we remember him. Chose eternal matters and you will be remembered eternally.