Reading from Wednesday, August 11

Holy moly I'm exhausted. We had our first really big video shoot at work today, and it was awesome - but it was also extremely tiring. The job is a lot more physical labor than I originally thought it might be - lifting lights, carrying cameras, hanging boom poles - not that I'm complaining about those things, it just takes it toll at the end of the day.

Reading for August 11
Nehemiah 1:1-3:14
So I think the book of Nehemiah is a "meanwhile" book. By that I mean the same events are occurring as the ones we saw in Ezra where Jerusalem is rebuilt, but they are now being told from a different perspective - that of Nehemiah.

It turns out the Nehemiah is the one who initiated the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem in the first place. He was King Artaxerxes cup bearer, and he showed up one day in front of the king looking sad. When the king asked what was wrong, Nehemiah said that the city in which his fathers were buried now lied in rubble, and he wanted to rebuild it. The king granted him permission to go, so he did. Chapters 2 and 3 give specific details about the reconstruction of the city and the names of each individual involved, so nothing else too interesting going on.

1 Corinthians 7:1-24
Paul here talks about marriage and how it is actually good NOT to get married. I think I get where he's going with this, so don't chnange blogs just yet. I think for the people truly devoted to being a Christian, fully committed to a relationship with God, those people cannot have that and also have a wife or husband. Being married takes a lot of emotional and mental effort, and so does a relationship with God. I'm married and recently I've been trying a lot harder to be a more affectionate husband, and helping around the house without being asked. I do put a lot of effort into my faith, and I don't feel like I was putting that same effort into my marriage, so I balanced them out - and I am fine with that.

Obviously God wants some of us to get married - otherwise, how would we reproduce? Our species would die out if everyone was just an unmarried devotee of Christianity. I feel like God wanted me to get married, and specifically, he wanted me to marry Jill. That is my honest belief.

Psalm 31:19-24
Again, nothing really sticks out to me, but take a read - let me know if anything sticks out to you:

 ¹⁹ How great is your goodness,
       which you have stored up for those who fear you,
       which you bestow in the sight of men
       on those who take refuge in you.
 ²⁰ In the shelter of your presence you hide them
       from the intrigues of men;
       in your dwelling you keep them safe
       from accusing tongues.
 ²¹ Praise be to the LORD,
       for he showed his wonderful love to me
       when I was in a besieged city.
 ²² In my alarm I said,
       "I am cut off from your sight!"
       Yet you heard my cry for mercy
       when I called to you for help.
 ²³ Love the LORD, all his saints!
       The LORD preserves the faithful,
       but the proud he pays back in full.
 ²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
       all you who hope in the LORD.

Proverbs 21:4
 ⁴ Haughty eyes and a proud heart,
       the lamp of the wicked, are sin!

Alright kids - it's bedtime. Goodnight, I say.