Nehemiah 5:14-15
Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance. But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God.
The Bible presents Nehemiah as being serious about his responsibilities and his fear of God. His character displays nobleness. From the Bible, it appears that God thought highly of him. When the Persian king appointed him governor of the Jewish exiles who had returned to the land of Judea from Babylon, Nehemiah discovered that the governors before him were in the habit of misgoverning the people for their own gain. Nehemiah’s standard, however, was exceedingly higher.
Nehemiah’s way of living appears to have been governed by authenticity that extended to every aspect of his life, which may have involved considerable sacrifice. He would not conform to ways of his fellow Jewish exile leaders. In a similar way, unless we are willing to say, “No,” to what everybody else is doing, our Christian life will not grow to the levels that are acceptable to the Father.
The fear of God must become a foundation to our character. We must learn to do all things to glorify God, with deep respect for Him. As a Christian, we must turn ourselves from the world’s way of thinking and practices. We must be a nonconformist in this respect. In Romans 3:18 the Apostle Paul makes an assertion about the world and its views, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” As a Christian, we must consciously march to the fear of God.
Nehemiah was willing to be different, a non-conformist if conforming was wrong. His respect for God and what God thought was greater than his fear of what men would think of him or what he would have to deny himself.
