A Call to Action
On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people and there it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into the assembly of God, because they had not met the Israelites with food and water but had hired Balaam to call a curse down on them. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) When the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent. Nehemiah 3:1-3 (New International Version, NIV)
In this passage, when the Israelites read a passage of Scripture that pointed out an area in which they were not in compliance, they acted. The Word should always serve to be a call to action for us.
As we read the Bible, it will show us where we are doing the will of God and where we are not. As the Holy Spirit illuminates a verse or passge to us and convicts us that we need to do better in an area, we cannot ignore Him. We must understand that in order for the Word to transform us into the image of God, we have to cooperate.
Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem did not realize they were doing wrong by associating with certain people. When they read the Word, it pointed it out to them and they acted on it. The instructions were intended to protect them from harmful influences. As they chose to obey, the blessing of the Lord was on their endeavors.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:22-25 (New International Version, NIV)
The Word is a mirror that shows us our condition. If we choose to ignore it, we go away unchanged, making the Word ineffective. If we act on it, we see improvement and blessing come on our lives more and more.
