Look Out For The Other Guy
“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man”. I was cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah 1:11
It was a day when Nehemiah, the cupbearer for the King, and his kinsmen, were being held in captivity. It was a loose captivity, but captivity none the less. It seems that Nehemiah had received news of his homeland in Judea and things were looking bad. He was deeply saddened that his countrymen were struggling so. The walls of the great city had been destroyed and the Temple of God lay in shambles.
Nehemiah took it upon himself to bring a solution to the problem. He was planning to approach the king and ask his permission to go back home and rebuild the walls of the city. Not only that, he wanted the king to pay for it.
That was brassy and bold, I would think. But he did it because his countrymen needed something more to hang onto. He cared about them and their well being more than he cared about his own. What a wonderful statement of faith!
God calls every believer to stand up and take charge of the care of others. He has entrusted their care to us. In a church world of paid professionals, we have come to depend on the staff or the hireling to get the job done and it is not being done. It will never happen until plain and common church folk, or should I say believers, stand up and take on the courage of Nehemiah. We must take it upon ourselves, as God has directed us to exercise ourselves in full faith toward helping the other guy.
Christianity is not selfish. IT IS NOT ABOUT US! It is about others. Look out for the other guy. That’s God’s way. And by the way, if we do not look out for our own, according to Scripture, we are worse than unbelievers!