Your John Hancock Requested

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Title: Your John Hancock Requested ------------------- Date: 1/6/2002
Keywords: "accountability" "promise"
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Passages: Nehemiah

9:38*

"Now because of all this
We are making an agreement in writing;
And on the sealed document are the names of our leaders, our Levites and our priests."

10:28-29*

28. Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding,

29. are joining with their kinsmen, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given through Moses, God's servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes

Questions

It will help you understand the verses above if you know the context in which they are written. The Jews have been confessing their sin to God. They have been telling God that they are in really bad shape. They have asked God to restore them and the land of Israel. That is the content of the previous 37 verses.

1. What are the people who are signing the document promising to do?

 

2. Why not just do it? What is the purpose of the signed document?

 

Practical help

We might hope that the Israelites of Nehemiah’s day would realize what they needed to go and just "do it." (i.e. obey God) It would be nice to think that they would be willing and able to obey God without a signed document. But the document fulfills a valid role in motivating them to do what is right.

A written record provides accountability. If, at some future date, the Jews no longer were interested in keeping the Sabbath, paying their tithes, or honoring their father and mother, all the faithful among them would have to do would be to drag out the document they had signed and remind them of their promise.

Accountability is a good thing. A public promise is a great aid to those who intend to keep their promises.

If you are looking to add tools to your toolbox for quitting porn, put Nehemiah 9 to good use. Make a promise to someone you know and trust and respect. Put it in writing. Sign it. Ask your friend to hold you accountable.

The eyes of anyone who reads the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America are drawn to one signature — John Hancock. His name stands out. He was willing to be recognized as a signatory on that document. If you aren’t willing to sign on the dotted line, why not? Are you serious about stopping your involvement with porn, or not?

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."