Building the Wall

I'm taking a class at church on spiritual warfare led by a teacher I greatly respect. Last week we studied passages in the book of Nehemiah and it became clear how the truths in this book can be applied to our lives today, even with homeschooling. If we are called by God to do a task, Nehemiah offers words of encouragement.

Here's the background to the book: The Jewish people were struggling to maintain their identity as a people of the Lord. They had been in exile for 70 years and they returned to their own land as strangers among foreigners. They struggled great moral and religious challenges to remain a distinctive people, faithful to God. At the time of this book, the temple had been rebuilt in Jerusalem, but Nehemiah wants to rebuild the city walls for security and protection. However, he suffers tremendous opposition. What sustains him is his faithfulness, perseverance and commitment to God's work and his belief in God's promises. (Jeremiah 25:11)

Nehemiah begins with prayer, acknowledging the reason his people are in this predicament to begin with:

"O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you." (Neh. 1:5,6)

Then he goes on to say that the people have not obeyed the commands of Moses and so were scattered, just as God had warned. But God promises to gather them again if the people return to him. Nehemiah states their identity (and ours). "They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand." (Neh. 1:10)

Nehemiah's conclusion and our prayer too: "O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy." (Neh. 1:11)

God's people are called out and set apart. We are not to be entangled in this world and its deceit, greed, materialism, lust, selfishness, and self-promotion. Homeschooling parents have actually taken the easy way out. To avoid the evil in the world, we limit our kids' exposure to it. Not everyone can or wants to homeschool, but Christians still need to be separate from the world. We don't isolate our children, but we build a foundation, a wall of protection and security, so that when they are mature, they will be strong and equipped for life on the other side of the wall.

We pray they will not be "taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition." (Col. 2:8) We pray they will "walk as children of light and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord and take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." (Eph. 5:8-11) We pray our children will be "blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom they will shine as lights in the world." (Phil. 2:15).

Jesus prayed to his Father for us, "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one." (John 17:15) He knew the kind of world we had to live in.

Come and explore Nehemiah's lessons for us as we raise our children.