Today’s passage says this: “That I gave my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem: for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.”
Faithfulness, integrity and the fear of God are unfortunately not preached enough in our churches these days, because people come to church with the hope to feel better, to find answers to their prayers and solutions for their daily lives. My brother, my sister, let’s go back to the time God created Adam and Eve. What was God’s purpose? He gave them everything they could NEED to live on earth, so that they don’t WANT anything and have reasons not to be in communion with Him. God has not changed! That is the reason, when this communion was broken with man, He sent Jesus: “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). And today, He is telling us to stop focusing on the things the pagans are looking for and to focus on His Kingdom and His righteousness above everything else (Matthew 6:25-34).
True enough, Jesus came to deliver us and to lead us to God. And, the fact is, Jesus left all believers one mission: “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20). But the problem is that many believers want to fulfill this commission without being disciples themselves, while a disciple is someone who is no longer lead by his daily life but someone who can say life Apostle Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!” (Galatians 2:19-21). Apostle Paul says he lives by faith!!! Not by what he sees or feels… And truly, while we are still too much concerned about ourselves, we cannot be faithful to God or have the fear of Him, because when a trial comes, we might rush ourselves to earthly securities instead of trusting the Lord.
Today’s passage reminds us that faithfulness and the fear of God are the key character traits that qualified the men Nehemiah chose to govern Jerusalem. Why? Because faithful people can be trusted to carry out their work whether the master is there or not and God-fearing people can be expected to do so in line with God’s priorities and principles. The problem in most churches today is that church servants and church leaders are chosen based on familiarity, affection or even financial abilities… not God’s Word. The Word of God teaches us to look for the faithfulness and reverence as two of the most important qualifications. Let’s not forget that although more qualities may seem more impressive with our human eyes, faithfulness and reverence pass the test of time! That is why we must always ask ourselves these questions: How faithful am I to God? Do I really fear the Lord? How do I know I am faithful or that I have the fear of God? Such questions are not to be answered by someone else but by you alone, as you look at yourself in the mirror of the Word of God. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.