Nehemiah 3

Several times in our journey so far through the Old Testament, we have witnessed God’s love of community. Since love is relational, it is always seeking community. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that the type of community God wants is only found in the mutual unity of a group of individuals. (These days, when some think of community, they tend to think of a community as a single organism that is more important than an individual. But true community begins with the individual.)

This chapter holds another great example of the kind of community God is after. There was a repetitive phrase that ran all the way through this chapter, with no less than 15 occurrences! Did you catch it? It is next to him. As Nehemiah describes the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall, he works his way around the city, chronicling the names of those who restored each section, one next to the other, one right after the other.

For me, what this clearly indicated was that the wall of Jerusalem could never have been rebuilt by one person. Or even two, three, or ten people. It was definitely a team effort. It required a community of individuals coming together to focus on and complete their part of the project. When everyone put their energies into the small section they were in charge of, the whole wall was completed.

I don’t know about you, but I have often fallen into the trap of trying to do things all by myself. Sometimes it’s because I think I can. Other times, it’s because I think it is easier to just do something I can do rather than trying to rely on somebody else to do it—especially if I think it may not get done in the way I would prefer to have it done.

But God doesn’t even function like that. And if there is anybody who could, it’s Him! He can do absolutely anything, yet He chooses to be a team leader. He chooses to share the responsibility (and the glory) of things with us, because He is more concerned about community than He is about making sure everything is done perfectly. He prefers to involve us rather than leave us out.

In the body of Christ, every part—no matter how big or small—is important. From the largest organ (the skin) all the way down to the tiniest bone (the stirrup bone in the ear), if one part is missing, the whole body suffers. Just as in Nehemiah’s day: If one person had failed to finish their job, there would have been a whole in the wall.

God wants you. He needs you. In His grand plan, you—yes, you!—are vitally important. With God, there are no "little people." As we work with God and "next to" each other, we’ll find that, together, we can accomplish much more than we ever could on our own.