Day 1

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Wide Awake

SCRIPTURE

Nehemiah 1:1-2
“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.”

OBSERVATION

Have ever been in a room full of people and been completely unaware of what was happening around you? Many times we are surrounded by people and are unaware of the pain and heartache they are going through. It is easy in life to only be concerned with our own world. We focus on how things are going for us and the people with whom we interact on a daily basis. In this passage of scripture, Nehemiah could have been consumed by his own world. He was the king’s cupbearer, a very important role with a long list of responsibilities. In the midst of all of this, he is able to be “wide awake” to other people’s problems. The scripture says “now it happened.” Nehemiah was aware enough to realize that something significant was happening around him. He was the kind of person who was unwilling to live in denial or for his own comfort.

It is easy to go about our day and never stop to realize that there are people around us who are lost. As believers, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to awaken us to the needs of others. In order to receive a God-given burden, we must “wake up” to the things God cares about. He cares about people, just as he cared about those who were suffering in Jerusalem. One of the reasons God used Nehemiah was because he was “wide awake” to the problems that other people were going through. Are you wide awake today?

APPLICATION

Ask God to open your eyes to needs that are around our city and around the world. Drive down a street you would normally avoid, or read about a part of the world in need that you have not thought about before. As God begins to open your eyes to the things that he cares about, ask him to begin to give you a burden to serve and love people. Ask God to give you a burden for people today!

PRAYER

“Jesus, I ask you today to open my eyes to the things you care about. Help me to not miss the opportunities to serve and love the people around me. May I live my life aware of the great spiritual needs that people have in my city and around the world. God give me a burden today!”