I think that a major problem for many Christians is that they forget who they are and whose they are. They somehow fall into the error that they are 'just' ordinary people, people 'just' like everyone else. But they aren't! I don't mean this in any prideful or exalted way, but merely to state a fact, a glorious fact. We are God's own people, His chosen ones, and we have not only a privilege on account of that, but also a great responsibility. Today's passage and meditation touch on just of what that means and entails in terms of our lives.

Years ago, in another parish and city, I led a several week Bible study on 'Emmanuel', 'God with us.' Starting with the Garden of Eden and ending with yet another garden (the Book of Revelation), we explored how God earnestly desires to be with His people. We looked at the friendship with God that Abraham and Moses enjoyed, and the visible tangible expressions of His presence in the Ark of the Covenant and the Temple, and then on to the New Testament teachings about us abiding in Him and about us ourselves being temples of God, temples of the Holy Spirit. And, of course, then there is today's passage. All of this tells us so eloquently that God yearns to be with us, and yet, so very often we fail to see this or appreciate this, and likewise fail to take God at His most glorious offer of being with us. My prayer is that all of us can be so much more intentional in accepting that offer and dwelling in that presence.

We all know, or at least we should, that being present to someone, and listening to that person, is absolutely vital to all relationships. Yet, far too often, our mind is somewhere else, or we have other agenda items, or we have conflicting presuppositions, and so we just don't hear. Or don't hear properly. The same can be true with us and God. It certainly was true with the disciples and Jesus. They had their own ideas of what the Messiah would be like and what the kingdom would look like, and those ideas didn't jive with what Jesus was telling them. No wonder God had to tell the three of them on to mountain to 'listen up', to listen to Jesus. Well might He be saying that to us as well, because we too can be like those three. And perhaps this is a good time of the year to especially think of this and pay attention to this--as we prepare, once again, for His coming.

Today's meditation touches on what has to be a vital dynamic within the Christian life, namely the partnership we have with God and the interplay between what He has done (and is doing) and what we are called to do. Yes, we have the completed work of Christ as a given, as something precious and valuable, but even so, there are things that we can, and must, do in order for that work to find its fullest and clearest expression. Someone, Gregory Baum it think, once said, "We need the conviction that God counts on men" and how true that happens to be. God needs us, as His men and women, to do our part in sharing His good news and making His kingdom known in our world.

To me, at least, there seems to be a lack of standards these days--and a lack of accountability. The idea of God's holiness and otherness, and of God's rule and sovereignty, seems to be sadly lacking in much of public life. And sad to say, sometimes this spills over to the church itself. So, the deliberate actions, the reforms, of Nehemiah are a bracing reminder of how perhaps things 'should' be. That, basically, is what today's meditation is about. I hope you enjoy it.

This meditation touches on something that I think that we need to be continually aware of, namely that God, that Jesus, is truly touched by our sorrows and our infirmities. We need to know that He truly does understand, from going through it Himself and that He truly does care.

Do we share God's sense of urgency in our own lives?

What we depend on in our lives, our wealth and works on the one hand, or on God, on the other?

our gifts from God, and how we should use them