A mind to work

But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?”
Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.
So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. – Nehemiah 4.1-6

The Bible says a lot about work. From the Fall onward work had been a part of what people do. Adam himself had to work the garden in order for it to produce food. The Bible talks a lot about work. ‘Work with your hands that which is good.’ ‘Six days you should labour.’ ‘If a man doesn’t work he should not eat.’ It tells us that when we work we are to work as if we are working for the Lord instead of working for our boss. We are to all we do, even our work, to the glory of God.

Here we see the work principle in action. The people built the wall – at least half way up – because they had a mind to work. Their mind to work came despite great opposition and mocking. It came despite their fears. They decide to work.

Serving God is a bit scary. I think most of us fear mocking and opposition. In our culture the chance that we are going to really face physical danger for being believers is rare. But that doesn't make the mocking and taunting and teasing any easier. But there is still a work to do - just like there was for these folks.

They had a mind to work – and they worked. We can all get excited about the work. We can have the mind to to the work. We can have all the best intentions. But are we going to get busy and do it?