Nehemiah 11:1–2: “Now the leaders of the people dwelt at Jerusalem; the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to dwell in Jerusalem, the holy city, and nine-tenths were to dwell in other cities. And the people blessed all the men who willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.”

November 13th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The wall and gates around Jerusalem were finished, the people had made a public declaration to follow God, and now they began the process of repopulating the city, casting lots to determine who would inhabit it. The peoples’ names were probably written on something like a pottery shard, put in a jar, and then, one by one, pulled out and numbered. The intent was to choose 10% of the families to relocate to the old city. This would require those selected to leave the familiar and move somewhere they might not have chosen for themselves. Those from the countryside may even have had to leave behind family and friends.

What if God asked you (and you knew it was God) to go somewhere you wouldn’t necessarily choose to go yourself; would you be willing to leave the familiar? Like the song Home Sweet Home says, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.” For most of us the idea of leaving our home (city, state, nation) for God is huge and would take a very big step of faith. Father Abraham is an excellent Old Testament example of being willing to leave the familiar in order to obey God. Jesus spoke to His disciples about leaving everything:

Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed you!”

So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark 10:28–30)

We have to trust God, trust that He wouldn’t lead us away from home unless He had something better planned for us.

“LORD, give us the grace and courage to follow You this day, wherever You lead.”