Nehemiah 1:3
“And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.”
When Hanani came to visit Nehemiah in Shushan, he heard of the condition of the remnant left in Jerusalem. The one thing that broke the heart of Nehemiah was to hear that the walls were “broken down,” and that the gates were “burned with fire.” He understood the importance of the walls and the gates. He understood the walls kept them safe from the enemies attack from the outside, but that the gates kept them from unwanted influences that could destroy them from the inside.
It is heartbreaking to see people live a life that leads to misery and disgrace. What is so tragic about this is that these people could easily turn their life around if they would simply build walls and gates in their life. Every time I deal with someone whose life is in ruins, I find the cause is because they lived a careless life that led to misery and disgrace. The two things that led to Jerusalem’s “affliction and reproach” are the same two things that will lead a person to live a life of misery and disgrace.
The first thing that leads to a life of misery and disgrace are no walls built in one’s life to keep the outside influences from destroying them. Every person must build rules and boundaries to keep the outside influences from destroying them. A life without walls is a life that has no defense against the attacks of the world and Satan. A life without walls is a life headed for misery and disgrace. You cannot run with any crowd and not expect their influences to hurt your Christian testimony. You cannot live an unholy life of doing what you want to do, dressing like you want to dress, and living without restraints without eventually finding yourself walking the road of heartache. You always hear the attacks of those who bemoan the “rules and standards” of the old paths as being constrictive and warrantless, but one day the life without walls will result in misery and disgrace.
The second thing that leads to a life of misery and disgrace is not having gates to protect you from inside influences. The gates of your life are your eyes and ears. What you see and hear will eventually destroy you. One reason I have strongly admonished Christians not to read books by authors who don’t use the King James Bible is that their false doctrine will influence and destroy you. The idea that you can eat the meat and spit out the bones is simply fatuous and insane. The influence of what you read and who you hear can’t be thrown out; it is forever engraved in the archives of your mind. Their influences will eventually start coming out. You must have gates established in your life that keep you from reading from those who can destroy you, seeing those things that lead to sinful behavior, hearing those people who sow seeds of corruption in your mind, or listening to things that could destroy your faith in God’s Word.
If you want to avoid a life of misery and disgrace, you had better set up walls and gates that keep you from that life of reproach. You can be guaranteed that misery will be the life of those who have been disgraced because of sin. It can all be avoided by being sure you have built the walls and gates the Scriptures give to keep you from a life of misery and disgrace.