Big Idea: Personal application and commitment to God’s truth is the only pathway towards spiritual renewal.
Q1: Should God’s people make promises to God?
“Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no,’ so that you won’t fall under judgment.”
James 5:12
Q2: What are the most important commitments to make?
“Join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the Lord our Lord.”
Nehemiah 10:29
1. God’s laws.
“The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God—”
Nehemiah 10:28
2. godly leadership.
“In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement in writing on a sealed document containing the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
Nehemiah 9:38
Reference: Nehemiah 10:1-27
3. from the world.
“The rest of the people—the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with their wives, sons, and daughters, everyone who is able to understand and who has separated themselves from the surrounding peoples to obey the law of God.”
Nehemiah 10:28
4. the family.
“We will not give our daughters in marriage to the surrounding peoples and will not take their daughters as wives for our sons.”
Nehemiah 10:30
5. above all.
“When the surrounding peoples bring merchandise or any kind of grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or a holy day. We will also leave the land uncultivated in the seventh year and will cancel every debt.”
Nehemiah 10:31
6. Prioritize God’s agenda.
“We will impose the following commands on ourselves: To give an eighth of an ounce of silver yearly for the service of the house of our God: the bread displayed before the Lord, the daily grain offering, the regular burnt offering, the Sabbath and New Moon offerings, the appointed festivals, the holy things, the sin offerings to atone for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God.”
Nehemiah 10:32-33