Nehemiah 10:29, 35 all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.
35 “We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree.
The world is filled with people who shirk their responsibilities. They are constantly pointing their fingers in other directions, when it ought to be pointing right in the middle of their own chests. But people who succeed the most in life are willing to take responsibility for their own actions, both when things go well and when things go poorly.
One thing I learned in the Army was that with the authority to do something came the responsibility if it failed. You would get the medal for success, but you would also get the appropriate correction if your failure was due to your own neglect. Failure from outside circumstances was not punished, but was viewed as something from which to be learned. The military is a learning endeavor.
You know someone is serious about their commitment to a project when they willingly, upfront, take on the weight of failure as part of their assessment of the project. They face it square on and go ahead anyway. Remember Abraham, he faced that fact that his body was as good as dead (Rom 4:19), and this didn’t get in the way of his believing that God would keep His promise.
Our text begins with a list of people willing to enter into a new commitment to radical living with the LORD. Many are willing to take on the blessings of success, but these people are willing to take the weight of failure. The weight of failure is expressed in the Scriptures as a ‘curse.’ These people recognized that if they failed, they would step out of God’s protection and into the realm of His curse.
That is radical! Imagine people willing to not only own their failures, but also the consequences of those failures. That just doesn’t happen these days. In fact, it didn’t happen back then either. This was one of the few times in Scripture when it happened.
King David accepted the death of his son being connected to his sin of adultery and murder. He owned what he had done, after being called out by the prophet. And he was called a man after God’s own heart. The LORD did not hold this over David’s head. There was forgiveness and reconciliation. But there were also consequences.
Two times in our passage the words of assuming responsibility appear. This same group of people who willingly bind themselves with a curse, pick up their responsibility willingly. They choose to go beyond the minimum. They hear the command and they pick up the associated tasks.
Could you imagine working with a group of people who not only identify the need, but then step up and meet the need? What a joy that would be to be part of something like that. It would be easy to also step up and do our part, and beyond.
That is exactly what these people did. They took on more than others were willing to do. It was required by the Law, but they, with enthusiasm, assumed the responsibilities. It meant sacrifice and a change in their priorities. Life would be different from that day forward.
When we assume responsibility for our actions, then life does change. Our trajectory becomes more in line with God’s trajectory. We move more in line with His movements. Our direction becomes more His direction. And the results will include increased blessing.
So in what ways do you need to pick up your responsibility today, willingly, enthusiastically? What is standing in the way of you doing just that?
The Arnold Journey 