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10/01/2025, FridayNehemiah 10

ACCOUNTABILITY

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Rev. Adrian Lim

Passage of the day

Click here to read Ch10

Sharing

Christians have confused love to mean that it is without any accountability for poor behaviors and even sins. Accountability is necessary because we may not keep our promises. Chapter 10:38 ends with the Israelites making a covenant, putting it in writing, and sealing it to hold each other accountable to do as promised.

In verses 1-27, it is a list of the leaders who had signed the agreement. They were the first to sign and set an example to the people. 1 Peter 5:2-3 instructed the elders to shepherd God’s flock not because they must, but by being examples to the flock. It was followed by the rest of the people who had agreed to it (verses 28-29).

In verses 30-39, eight promises were found in their agreement:

1) They promised not to marry pagans (v. 30).

2) They promised not to trade on Sabbath or during the holy festivals (v. 31a).

3) To remember the year of Jubilee by letting the land rest and canceling debts (v. 31b).

4) They promised to make sacrifices and offerings required by the Law (vs. 32-33).

5) They promised to reinstall the spiritual leaders to do duties in the temple (v. 34).

6) They promised to bring their tithes to the house of God (v. 35).

7) They promised to offer their best to God for His work in the temple (v. 36).

8) They promised to provide for God’s servants (vs. 37-38).

They promised not to disobey God’s instructions and committed themselves to be accountable to one another to obey them. Soren Kierkegaard said that even ministers must account for how they live out their faith as disciples. He said, “I went into the church and sat on the velvet pew. I watched as the sun came shining through the stained-glass windows. The minister dressed in a velvet robe opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk bookmark saying, “If any man will be my disciple, said Jesus, let him deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and follow me.”

People who reject poverty and sickness as a lack of faith or a result of sin are mistakenly wrong. They claim that health and wealth are signs of strong faith and obedience to God but fail to keep Jesus’ command to pick up their crosses to follow Him. They forgot that Jesus warned us of suffering and persecution if we follow Him. Disciples must be held accountable to walk in the footsteps of Jesus as we follow Him.

We need to hold ourselves accountable to God to lead by example and pay the cost of discipleship. We need to hold each other accountable to live a godly life as a disciple. Are you willing to pay the cost to follow Jesus and make yourself accountable to God and His people? Find someone to make yourself accountable to walk faithfully as a disciple.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I make myself accountable to you and to my human mentor(s) that I will obey and walk with you faithfully as a disciple. I want to be faithful just like the saints of the past who finished well in this race. So, help me Lord, I pray!