Fifty-Two Days in Nehemian (Day 12)

Day 12

…After them Azariah the son of Maaseiah, son of Ananiah repaired beside his own house.

Nehemiah 3:23

Taking ownership is a powerful thing. There is a distinct difference in serving at “the church” and serving at “my church.” Something happens when we are no longer going to a work day at “the church,” but going to a work day at “my church.” We can work with the children at “the church,” or we can work with the children at “my church.”

Nehemiah understood the power of ownership. He understood that unless people owned this project, they would not fully engage. People needed to sense that they were not merely building a wall around “the city,” but that they were building a wall around “our city.” The workers need to grasp the fact that they were not building a wall to keep “the people safe,” but building a wall to keep “our people safe.”

One of the ways Nehemiah accomplished this was to have people build near their own homes. Several times in Nehemiah 3, we see reference to people building near their own homes, across from their homes, or across from their quarters. Nehemiah allowed people to build where they have a vested interest.

Maybe you find yourself feeling distant from the church and the work that is going on there. Maybe you have been unable to connect with what is going on up until this point. It is possible that you have felt that you are attending someone else’s church, but it has never come to feel like your church.

Let me encourage you to get plugged in. Find some area where you can serve. Maybe you can serve in an area that is close to your heart: children, youth, senior adults, or Bible study. Once you connect, I trust that you will find that the church will quickly become “your church.”