Nehemiah 6:1

Nehemiah 6:1 says, Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates.  The enemies of Judah heard that the wall had been completed, except for the doors to the gates.  They decided the time to kill Nehemiah was now or never, and they knew they couldn’t do it by an outright attack.  We as Christians have the security of God’s protection, but our freewill still leaves an open door through which we can be attacked spiritually.  Often, these attacks are not an open assault but a subtle appeal to our desires which are not in accordance with what God’s word tells us.

Verse two adds, That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.  These two rulers, Sanballat and Geshem, invited Nehemiah to meet with them in another city to talk about common interests they might have, but their intention was to either kill or imprison him.  If people invite us to meet them anywhere except where we are safely in the will God and under His protection, no matter what they may be offering us, we should never go.  We must remain where God wants us to be, and if we do, there is nothing that the world can offer us that we need. 

Verse three continues, And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?  Nehemiah sent word to these two rulers that he was doing a great work and asked why he should come to them.  If we are doing God’s work today, we need to ask why we would leave that off in order to meet with someone who is not a part of that work.  We need to always put God’s work first and never allow the things of this world to come between God’s work and us. 

Verse four adds, Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner.  Sanballat and Geshem sent the invitation to Nehemiah four times, and he answered them the same way each time, and that was to say that God’s work came first.  We need this same resolve today, no matter how many times we may be tempted to put the things of the world ahead of the things of God.