Nehemiah 3:10

Next Jedaiah son of Harumaph repaired the wall across from his own house, and next to him was Hattush son of Hashabneiah.

I vividly remember meeting a missionary for the first time. It was at a children’s mission in our local park and, with huge excitement, we were introduced to a real live missionary who had been serving God in the Amazon rainforest amongst a tribe whose language hadn’t yet been written down. Everything about his life seemed adventurous and he had clearly done a fantastic job of getting alongside the tribal people and finding ways of telling them that God loved them. It was obvious to me that this was exactly what Jesus meant when he told his disciples to go to the ends of the earth.

If God has told you to go to the ends of the earth, that’s great! I pray you get on really well. But that wasn’t all that Jesus said. Jesus told his disciples to start in Jerusalem. Most of us are not told to go to the ends of the earth, we’re told to to start where we are. In Nehemiah’s account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem he identified some people, like Jedaiah, whose task it was to repair the wall across the road from his house. For many of us, the work that God wants us to do doesn’t involve a journey. Over the years as a minister, I have worked in a number of different places but many people I know have, impressively, served God in one place and put down deep roots in that location. What matters is that we serve God with all our hearts, wherever we are placed. We must never overlook the importance of home. When Jesus commanded his disciples to witness for him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth, he was saying: start where you are. It may be that, one day, God will call you to go on a long journey for him but today your starting point is your home, your community, your shop, your office, your factory or your school.

Question

Where is God calling you to serve him today?

Prayer

Loving God, thank you that you have placed me exactly where I am. Help me to be faithful serving you in my local community. Amen