June 15, 2024

If we have learned anything through reading God’s word, it’s that we must contend with the enemy of our salvation. The work of the Lord must go on. Nehemiah and the workers repairing the gates and the walls around Jerusalem had to contend with the evil Sanballat and his friends. They jeered at them while they worked and conspired to fight them. So Nehemiah set people on the high parts of the wall; others hid behind it, and some covered the low places, all carrying a weapon, either a sword, spear, or bow. Nehemiah had a trumpeter with him, and if the enemy approached, he would blow it and call everyone to him so they could fight them off together. He reminded them that God was with them and that the fight would be worthwhile for their brethren, sons, daughters, and wives. They resumed the work with a weapon in one hand and a tool in the other.

They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every onewith one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. Nehemiah 4:17

Our daily lives consist of the same thing. We must constantly contend with the enemy and his schemes against us with the Sword of the Spirit in one hand and the tools for our work in the other. When our fellow laborers for the cause call on us for help in the fight, we must react by pitching in, whether by prayer or physical action. We are together in this fight against the enemy, and bringing others to salvation through Jesus is our cause.