External Vs. Internal Change

External vs Internal
Nehemiah 6-9
“And confessed their sins and he iniquities of their fathers. While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.”

It is easy to make superficial, external changes in our lives. While it presents some challenges, we can modify our actions and conduct ourselves differently in the presence of others. However, the most difficult change of all is changing our internal motives and desires.  
As the Jews were rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, they again encountered opposition from the enemies that had surrendered to them. Tobiah and Sanballat continued their quest to discourage and thwart the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem. When they could not discourage the people, they then sought to entrap Nehemiah himself, attacking Nehemiah’s motives and his faith. However, Nehemiah remained untainted, as he pursued God and his desire to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.

At the end of chapter 6, we read that the enemies “lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of God.”  So we read that the walls of the city were completed after 52 days of intense labor and work (vs 15). The task that Nehemiah had set out to do was accomplished—or so it seems. Nehemiah recognized that there was much more needed than just rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and reestablishing the people’s security in the land. Rebuilding the wall was easy; now the challenging task began—rebuilding the people's hearts. Nehemiah recognized that the real challenge was to restore the people's hearts to obedience to the covenant. The challenge was more than physical; it was spiritual. Israel had been sent into captivity because of their sin and reject of God’s law. Therefore, they needed to address the real issue, which was to reestablish the people’s trust and obedience to God's law.  

Nehemiah had rebuilt the walls; now, he turned to Ezra to rebuild the hearts of the people. Spiritual transformation requires spiritual methods. The tools used to reconstruct the walls were the hammer and chisel, but the tool that rebuilt the heart of the people was the Old Testament law itself. Just as Ezra had done when the temple was completed, so again he opened the scrolls and began to teach the people by translating the passage and explaining the meaning so that the people would be transformed as a result (8:8). But he did more than just inform people of the meaning, he called upon them to respond in obedience to the law by confessing their sins and seeking God’s forgiveness.

The same method that Ezra used to address the heart of the people is the same method we need today. We lament that our nation is descending further into political and moral turmoil. We struggle when our personal lives seem to be in shambles. However, we often seek superficial change rather than substantial internal transformation. To genuinely experience God’s blessing, we must also focus on reading, studying, and applying the Bible to our lives. We need to devote ourselves to knowing God’s word and living in response to His word. Otherwise, any changes we do make in our lives will be temporary. It is easy to change our external behavior, but it is far more challenging to change our internal attitudes. This requires prayer, repentance, and asking God to change us internally. Are you merely changing the external acts that people see, or are you changing your internal motives, desires, and character that God sees? The first is easy and only requires a little effort on our part. The second is so difficult that it can only be accomplished by God and by our willingness to yield to him to work in us. It can only come when we devote ourselves to reading God’s word and apply it to our daily lives.