The book of Nehemiah highlights some great points in the process of true repentance to God. I noticed that they’re strikingly similar to the steps taken during the time of King Hezekiah in 2 Chr 29.
- The people read the words of God to discover the truth, why they were suffering and got convicted for their wrong ways. They fasted and prayed. They spent half a day studying the word, confessing their sins and worshipping God. They wasted no time in changing their ways! Nehemiah 8-9 covers these.
Nehemiah 10 mentions the other key steps they took:
- They committed to obeying God’s commandments and instructions, along with their families. V. 28-29.
- They obeyed God’s commands about not being unequally yoked in marriage with unbelievers and people of other faiths. God has always wanted His children not to intermarry with the world but this has always been a challenge since Genesis 6:2 as the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and married them, which greatly angered God. Underlying the principle is that agreement in your faiths is critical in marriage. V.30.
- They kept God’s cycles in time i.e. the weekly Sabbath and 7-yearly sabbaths (see other post). They committed to doing no business/trading on the weekly Sabbath despite what the unbelievers did, and to forego the 7th year’s produce and forgive debts. V.31.
- They gave generous offerings towards the service in the house of God. V.32-34.
- Also to the house of God, they brought the firstfruit of all their produce. They also brought the tithe to the house of God. V.35-39. 🙏🏾
In summary: repentance goes beyond just stopping your sins. There are other aspects of obedience required. Same applies to the Christian after being justified i.e. baptized and accepting Jesus as his/her personal savior. This is only the first step in a life long journey of continuously walking with God, daily, through the Holy Spirit for our sanctification. ✌🏾😁
The Langford Files 