Nehemiah 2:18
And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.
It is remarkable that a variety of people around Nehemiah–Jews, priests, nobles, officials and workers–all eagerly voted in favour of rising up to build (Neh 2:17). Their class, rank and status did not matter. Their singular goal equalised and unified them all. So it should be in the church today.
Observe that they did not urge their leader to do something. Neither did they blame anyone for the shameful state of the temple and walls, as many today do. Rather, they took it upon themselves to make a difference together. So should we.
Observe that nobody was talking about rising up to fight. It wasn’t an uprising! Neither did they agree to rise up and talk! Nor did they conspire to destroy things. Instead, they mobilised one another for good and for God. It was a positive revolution.
“Let us rise up and build!” should also be our war cry today. We too must learn to collaborate for the glory of God. We can’t afford to be idle still. We can’t afford to sleep on the job. We must start doing and stop debating. It is up to us to remove the reproach upon us on account of the dilapidated state of the church (Neh 2:17). This is our time to rise up and build!
Pastor Josh