Happy New Year!  I'm so glad you've decided to ring in the new year by spending time in God's Word today!

Today's Passage:  Nehemiah 13

Poor Nehemiah...he works so hard to get the people back to where they need to be with God, only to come back from a visit with the king to see that they had fallen right back into old habits again.  They were working on the sabbath, treating the temple with contempt, marrying into families with foreign Gods...the very problems that led them to destruction before.  No wonder Nehemiah is tearing out hair (not his own, but those of the wicked!) in frustration for what is happening here.

Have you ever tried to help someone, think you've made progress, and then turn around to see them in trouble once again?  It is so frustrating to put time and effort into someone and then see them make the same mistakes over and over again.  They know those decisions lead to destruction, right?  They know that those decisions are the same ones that put them in peril the first time, right? 

Now imagine how God feels as He looks down on our own struggle with sin.  We know better...we know the hurt and pain we cause ourselves...but we continue to go right back to it again.  On this first day of a new year, let's praise God for his patience and love for us...that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us!