Where the Rubber Meets the Road

Nehemiah chapter 4 gives us an interesting take on wall building.  Understanding where “The Rubber Meets the Road,” verse 14 says:

“And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, (Now, if you are in the habit of underlining things in your Bible, the next phrase is one of those things that I would underline) BE NOT AFRAID OF THEM:  REMEMBER THE LORD, which is great and terrible (That word terrible here is translated to mean AWESOME.  Our God is Great and Awesome!), and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.

• We are talking about your homes here;
• We are talking about fighting for your families;

 ¹⁵ And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought (That’s another good place to underline), that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.”

Verse 15 finishes with these words – EVERY ONE UNTO HIS WORK:

• Young or old;
• Rich or poor;
• Male or female;
• Educated or uneducated.

Every single person had a job to do.  Every single person had an assignment from Jehovah God!  Every single person had a purpose, a mission to fulfill – IN THEIR GENERATION.

• I cannot accomplish anything in my Father’s generation – that is in the past;
• I cannot accomplish anything in my grandchildren’s generation – that’s in the future;
• I can only accomplish the work of God in my generation- HERE AND NOW!

The only generation that I can affect for God is my generation.  And folks, I determined long ago that in my generation, I am going to serve the Lord with the best that I have in me BY HIS PERFECT WILL.

What I want you to understand with me is that every one has a work:

• EVERY WOMAN;
• EVERY MAN;
• EVERY CHILD

“Every one unto his work!”

And notice with me where it started with Nehemiah:

• It started with the family;
• It started with the home.

Looking at Ephesians, chapter 6, we will find this same theme is repeated in the New Testament.

In Ephesians chapter 6, we are told about how to fight the devil, the adversary.  We are taught how we are to put on the whole armor of God and be prepared for the battle ahead.

• But, before you ever get into this spiritual warefare;
• Before you ever engage the adversaries as Nehemiah did;
• And before you have to face those who oppose the work that God has given you.
• And before you can build any walls for God –

You have to ensure that your Heart is Right!

If you look back at Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 22, and folks, if we’re going to build the walls, if we’re going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, if we’re going to fight the enemies of God, we’ve got to start off RIGHT – IN THE FAMILY.

Verse 22 says, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord;”

Nehemiah said, “We’ve got to fight for our sons; we’ve got to fight for our daughters, we’ve got to fight for our wives, we’ve got to fight for our homes, we’ve got to fight for our families!”

And here in the New Testament, we are getting the same truths:  “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”

Verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”

• Now we can talk real spiritual about serving God;
• We can speak about doing a great work for God;
• We can talk about building the walls;

But I’m gonna tell you where the “Rubber meets the Road.”  The Rubber Meets the Road – IN THE HOME – IN THE FAMILY – IN YOUR CLOSEST RELATIONSHIPS.

And listen folks, Paul tells us here in Ephesians,

• You can forget fighting the battles against evil IF you can’t win the battle in your home;
• You can forget fighting the opposition, if you can’t win the battle in your home;
• You can forget building any walls, IF you can’t win the battle in your home!

And Nehemiah understood this and he said, “If we’re going to build this wall, every one has to build in front of your own house.”  And that’s how he assigned everybody “in front of their own house.”  And THAT is “Where the Rubber Meets the Road!“