Focal Points of Failure
Devotions for Growing Christians
Focal Points of Failure
Nehemiah 9:38 - “Now because of all this we are making an agreement in writing; and on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and priests.”
Read Nehemiah 10 and Nehemiah 13.
How many us follow through on our New Year's resolutions? For most of us, our plans are history before January is over! Our resolution to jog 10 minutes a day has been changed to a walking program of 10 minutes a week. Our resolution to lose a pound a week has been rationalized to "no gain"! Our resolution to get up an hour earlier for time with the Lord has been modified to reading a 5 minute devotional sometime during the day - if nothing “more important” comes up.
As human beings, we have a natural tendency to fail, no matter what we set out to do. And Christians are not immune. Plans for more discipline and efficiency in our lives often end up as just that - only plans! How discouraging! What’s the answer?
The answer from Scripture can be given in three statements:
1 - We don’t have to fail in any point.
The Bible teaches that when a person becomes a Christian, he or she receives brand new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). This new life is empowered by the Holy Spirit Who indwells every believer (1 Corinthians 6:19). Thus Christians are enabled not to sin (Romans 6:11-14and Romans 8:9-12).
Also from Scripture, we know that God never permits an overwhelming test or temptation to confront a Christian. 1 Corinthians 10:13 assures us that there is never a "can't handle" situation in the life of a Christian. It may be extremely hard at times, but a Christian does not have to sin or fail in any particular situation.
2 - But we will fail in some points
This part of the answer is equally true for every Christian. We are not perfect - yet! Most of us will not argue that point! 1 John 1:8-10 says that every Christian still sins. Although we have new life in Christ, we struggle with sin. Why? Because sin is still at work in our earthly bodies (see Romans 7:15-25). Until we’re with the Lord, we can never say that we’re completely failure-free. Only then will we be perfect (1 John 3:2 and Romans 8:23).
In the meantime, we are to make every effort not to yield ourselves to sin (Hebrews 12:1; Romans 6:15-19), but to yield ourselves to the Spirit of God, who indwells us and empowers our new life in Christ (Galatians 5:16-18; Romans 8:1-4). And what about the sins that we will inevitably commit? We are to confess them to the Lord. Confession brings sure cleansing (1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1).
3 - So concentrate on what may become our focal points of failure
The reason for the third part of the answer is a very practical one. Sin snowballs! When we fail in one area, it isn't long before other areas in our lives are affected. Therefore we should concentrate on the key areas - areas that can become focal points of failure. When sin and failure take place in key areas, there’s a tendency to "blow it big.” And sometimes the result is a life of failure.
Three Focal Points of Failure
There are three basic areas in which a growing Christian should be especially committed: the areas of our ties, our time, and our treasure. This sounds like a trite little sermon outline, but it may help us to remember these key areas of commitment. "Ties" has to do with our relationships. "Time" has to do with our priorities. "Treasure" has to do with our possessions. If these basic areas are not focal points of commitment, they can become focal points of failure.
The verses above from the book of Nehemiah were selected to emphasize the importance of being committed in all three areas. In the history of Israel, the events in this book took place near the end of the Old Testament period. Some of the Jewish people had returned to the homeland from exile in Babylon, and Nehemiah motivated them to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1-6). There was great rejoicing and revival among God's people when the wall was completed (Nehemiah 7-9)! The revival occurred because of a physical return of the people to their Land, and because of a spiritual return of the people to their God.
In Nehemiah 9:38 the leaders of God’s people made a resolution to faithfully follow the Lord from that time forward. The leaders formed the resolution, but all the people agreed to its terms - even the teens (10:28-29)! In the last half of chapter 10 we discover that the specific areas of commitment agreed upon were their ties (10:30), their time (v31), and their treasure (10:32-39).
In chapter 13, at least twelve years had elapsed since this commitment was made. Nehemiah was away from Jerusalem on official business for part of this time (13:6). When he returned, things had gone downhill, and the situation was pretty bad. The focal points of commitment had become focal points of failure.
Ties
In Nehemiah 10:30, God’s people had promised that they would not intermarry with their pagan neighbors. They would remain pure and loyal to the Lord in their relationships. But by Nehemiah 13 they had broken their pledge (v23-28). As a result, the children of these mixed marriages were influenced and infected by the surrounding pagan culture (v24). Even the high priestly family was no longer separate (v28).
The application to growing Christians is pretty straightforward. 2 Corinthians 6:14 tells us that we are not to be "yoked together with unbelievers." Marriage to an unbeliever can result in all kinds of negative fall-out - for years. The home will not be Christ-centered, and the children will be affected by a mixed message and the surrounding world system. An "unequal yoke" becomes a focal point of failure. In His wonderful kindness, God can step into the situation and pick up the pieces, but scars can remain.
God's Word is clear on the point of marriage, and it is to be obeyed. Commitment in the area of our relationships or ties can be applied to areas other than marriage, but because marriage is a such critical part of our lives, let’s be sure we remain committed on this point. If we fail here, the rest of our lives can be affected.
Nehemiah’s drastic action forces us to realize that this failure is extremely serious (v25). The mention of King Solomon and his place before God should convince us that even the most mature Christian is vulnerable (v26). Are your ties a focal point of commitment?
Time
In Nehemiah 10:31, the people pledged that they would put God first in the use of their time. They promised they would set aside the seventh day of every week and special “feast days” to worship and serve the Lord. They promised they wouldn’t buy or sell. They wouldn’t "do their own thing"! The Lord would have top priority.
Israel failed in this area as well (Nehemiah 13:15-22). The weekly Sabbath had become like any weekday. Instead of using this time for worship and serving the Lord, the people were using it for their own purposes. They were working, and they were buying and selling for themselves.
What a reverse in priorities! But before we judge them - what about our priorities? Is God first in the area of our time? Let's face it. If the Lord doesn’t have top priority in our time, we probably don't give Him much time at all. As in Nehemiah's day, there will always be plenty of activities to gobble up the Lord's time. Little by little He will be squeezed out of our busy schedules.
Wrong priorities become a focal point of failure. Our Lord Jesus promised that when we put God first, He will take care of all the really necessary things of life. Read Matthew 6:25-34 - and especially verse 33! Our problem is that we are not content with what the Lord has provided. Too much of our time is consumed with "buying and selling" for more than we really need. Our priorities need to be put in order. Our time must be a focal point of commitment - because there is never any "left-over" time for the Lord.
Treasure
In Nehemiah 10:32-39 the people of Israel promised that they would continually give, to support the work of the Lord. They promised to faithfully give back to the Lord a tenth of all He gave them. These gifts would always be the first part of their income - not part of whatever happened to be left over from their paycheck!
Nehemiah 13:10-14 reveals that the people of God failed in this area as well. They weren’t bringing their tithes and offerings to the Temple, nor were they supporting the priests and other servants of the Lord. The Levites were responsible for work around the Temple, but they were forced to go back to work on their farms (v10).
Neglect in the area of their treasure had become a focal point of failure for Israel. This can happen to us as well! The proper use of our money must be a focal point of commitment. We are to be disciplined in our giving. We should follow the example given to us in 1 Corinthians 16:2. The Corinthian believers were told to save part of their money each week for the Lord. This is disciplined giving. Disciplined and proportionate giving should characterize Christians - in the use of all of our possessions.
It's a complete cop-out for a Christian to say, "I don't give proportionately because everything I have belongs to the Lord!" And then we keep it all for our own selfish use. If we don't start with figuring out our giving with "pencil and paper,” disciplined giving usually doesn't come off at all! And it isn't long before the Lord’s work suffers somewhere. May God help us not to let our possessions become a focal point of failure.
In chapter 13 Nehemiah took drastic action to correct the areas of failure. This adds to the beautiful character description of Nehemiah, and teaches us that we may have to take drastic action to shape up in these three basic areas of commitment. Before the first month of any new year is over, we probably fail in a few of our resolutions - but let's concentrate on keeping the three "biggies" from becoming focal points of failure.
- Dave Reid