GUARDING WHAT HAS BEEN RESTORED
“I said to them, “The gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened until the sun is hot. While the gatekeepers are still on duty, have them shut the doors and bar them. Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses.””
Nehemiah 7:3 NIV
When the walls of Jerusalem were finally rebuilt, the danger did not disappear as it may have been expected, but intensified instead. A finished wall without a guarded gate was still vulnerable point. Nehemiah understood this, and so he instructed the people to open the gates only when visibility was clear, to shut and bar them with diligence.
This moment reveals a pattern in the life of every believer: after God restores, He calls us to watchfulness. Spiritual victory is not the time to relax; it is the time to stay alert. The enemy often waits for the moment when we assume the battle is over. Seasons of new beginnings can make us careless if we rush ahead without discernment.
Nehemiah teaches us three daily truths:
– Open your gates wisely: Not every influence deserves immediate access to your heart. Delay the opening of your gates “until the sun is hot”—until your mind is clear and your spirit is steady in the Lord. This is the discipline of discernment.
– Shut and bar the doors when needed: Some doors in your thought life, habits, or relationships must not stay ajar. Wisdom sometimes requires a firm “no,” not because of fear but because of devotion.
– Guard your God-given post: The people were assigned to watch near their own homes. In the same way, God has entrusted you with particular responsibilities—your character, your calling, your household, your fellowship. You guard what you love, and love grows through vigilant obedience.
God builds the wall, but He invites us to guard the gates. His sovereignty never replaces our watchfulness; it empowers it. As Philippians says, we work out our salvation precisely because He is already working in us.
Let us therefore live each day with the joy of restoration and the seriousness of stewardship—opening wisely, closing firmly, and standing faithfully at the place He has assigned to us.
Prayer: My Father, I thank you for this wisdom. Help me guard the gates you have entrusted to me with wisdom, sobriety, and love. Make me discerning in what I allow into my heart, resolute in shutting out what corrupts, and faithful in watching over the portion you have given me. Strengthen my vigilance, not by fear, but by confidence in you protection and delight in Your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• Proverbs 25:28
• 2 Chronicles 23:19
• 1 Peter 5:8
