And Next Unto Him
Nehemiah 3:2
"And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri."
The rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem was no small task. When Nehemiah originally planned to build the wall, I'm sure he understood the great work that was ahead. When reading the Book of Nehemiah, we often miss what made this great work happen. We certainly learn about how God used a man who was available to accomplish this great work, but we miss that this man could not do it alone. The verse above says, "And next unto him..." Nehemiah was one of many involved in the rebuilding of this wall. He could not have done it alone. It took every person being in their place to accomplish this great work.
Let me remind you that the church will never be built by one person. It always takes people like you to see a great work accomplished. Just like Nehemiah was one of many, likewise you are one of many in your church. Your church needs you to be involved in building a great work for Jesus Christ. Let me give you some thoughts about this story that I believe will be helpful to you.
First, beside every great man are a great people who build the work with him. I want you to notice that I said, "beside." Often we say behind every great work are a great group of people, but I tend to disagree with that philosophy because they must be beside the man of God doing their work. Sadly, there are many people behind the man of God watching him as he tries to do the work. No church will ever do anything much for Christ when people are behind the man of God watching. God uses people who are beside the man of God working to accomplish something great for Him. Your church doesn't need you to get behind the man of God, but it needs you to get beside the man of God and help him do the work God called all of you to do.
Second, everyone has something that they can contribute. You will notice in this story there are people from all backgrounds beside the man of God. Your background is useful to the work of the LORD. It takes people from all walks of life to help build the work of the LORD. We all can't be the same, for if that were the case the work of the LORD would not be able to reach as many people as it should. It takes people just like you with your background to get beside the man of God, and with God's help, build the work of the LORD.
Third, when you are not beside the man of God, then there is a gap in the work that cannot be filled. When you go through Nehemiah 3, you see there were many people beside Nehemiah. What if the Scriptures read, "And next unto him a person left their duty, so there was no one to build that section of the wall." This is sadly the case in most churches. There are only a few people trying to build the work of the LORD leaving gaps that cannot be filled. It is important to the work of the LORD that you are in your place of service doing what you are supposed to do. You don't want to be guilty of people going to Hell because you were not in your place of service at your church. You may not think people will actually go to Hell, but what you must understand is that everybody working together allows us the greatest possibility of reaching everyone. When one person is gone, it hurts the outreach of God's work.
Let me ask you, are you next unto your man of God? Are you beside the man of God or behind the man of God? Are you taking your talents and using them for the work of the LORD. God placed you where you are to be an impact to some degree in your church. Don't be guilty of leaving your place empty.