Nehemiah 2:17 “… come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.”

“Nehemiah” is a book in the Old Testament about a guy called Nehemiah, the man who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem that had been destroyed by Babylonian invasion and the following years of neglect and abandonment.

Walls are an important part of life. If you doubt it, just look your own house and yard. The picture of walls in this book are highly relevant in a spiritual sense to the Christian life.

The lack of walls has contributed to the state of disrepair that we can all find our lives, churches and faith in… kinda like the image that the ruined sorry state of Jerusalem in this book invokes.

Salvation is described as walls. God himself is described as a wall. It is not an accident that one entire book of the Bible dedicated to the topic of “rebuilding” is about a wall builder.

Sure, sometimes we have walls where they don’t belong in our lives… but in most cases it is the lack of Biblical walls in our lives that is really hurting us spiritually.

Why are walls important? They protect, they secure, they provide safety, they separate what belongs in from what doesn’t.

The thing about walls is that often they prevent problems in the first place. In old times, you just didn’t bother taking on walled up cities, and often we as Christians are in situations we don’t have to be in just because the wall wasn’t in place.

Also, walls are only as good as where they aren’t. What good would the wall have been if it was 50% or 75% or even 99% done? If an enemy attacks, the enemy will attack where the wall isn’t! That’s why Christians are meant to walk “circumspectly” … see where the walls are down!

In addition to walls, Nehemiah installed the correct gates in those walls as well! Because Christians aren’t meant to be walled up walled off hermits! There are things that need to go in and out through the walls as we interact with other people and navigate life in this world!

As Christians, we have gates in our lives… eye gate, ear gate, mouth gate… what’s going in and out our mind and heart and the manner in which it does so is very important to our spiritual life.

But finally! … if you do try putting up walls where they belong… don’t expect everyone to be happy! Nehemiah experienced a LOT of adversity and opposition, and from unlikely sources and in varied ways too… and as a Christian wall builder, you can be sure to expect the same!

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