DCLM Daily Manna 2025: DCLM Daily Manna 24 January 2025: Dangerous Apathy
Text: Nehemiah 3:1-5 (KJV)
1 Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors of it; even unto the tower of Meah they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananeel.
2 And next unto him builded the men of Jericho. And next to them builded Zaccur the son of Imri.
3 But the fish gate did the sons of Hassenaah build, who also laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.
4 And next unto them repaired Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz. And next unto them repaired Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabeel. And next unto them repaired Zadok the son of Baana.
5 And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.
KEY VERSE: Nehemiah 3:5
“And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their Lord.”
During the 15th century, some people were worried that Leonardo Da Vinci wasn’t painting fast enough! One church leader took this very grievance to the Duke of Milan, complaining about Leonardo’s laziness and procrastination. One could hardly blame him for griping. Leonardo’s habits were strange. Some days, he would seize the brush before sunrise and only set it down at sunset, forgetting even to eat. On other days, he would spend hours just staring at his work, not applying a single brushstroke. Then there were times when he would arrive at the monastery in the middle of the day, pick up a brush, apply one or two strokes, and then suddenly dart from the room. The Duke of Milan began to worry that if Leonardo continued his erratic work habits, he would never finish. But Leonardo replied, “Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work the least, for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterward give form.”
The nobles of Tekoa, in our text, weren’t practising productive procrastination. Unlike Leonardo da Vinci; they were, instead, negative and non-challenged about the project of rebuilding the walls. All the tribes and individual houses of Israel got involved in the noble task, except the aristocrats of Tekoa who remained unconcerned and uninvolved. They might have thought the menial task was below their dignity, or maybe they had other priorities considered more critical. Their apathy did not escape the notice of God Almighty, nor did ordinary Tekoites’ enthusiasm. God was unhappy with the nobles.
Apathy is dangerous at any stage of human existence and in any field of human endeavour. It is akin to being the living dead. Medical science regards apathy as symptomatic of poor mental health, just as spiritual apathy is conclusive of a diseased Christian life. We must therefore keep the embers of grace in our hearts aglow by consistent recourse to regular prayers and the study of the word of God with daily self-denial.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
True nobility is clothed in gracious self-forgetfulness.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Exodus 26-29
Daily Manna 24 January 2025
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