Checking My Wall
Words of Faith 7-14-26
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2026
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Nehemiah 7
[3b] "Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their posts and some near their own houses."

From time to time, we seem to hear a very similar terrifying story in the news with a disturbing regularity. A child finds a loaded gun and accidentally shoots a sibling or a playmate. There are helicopters, flashing lights, and film at eleven. I have literally wept with grief for the parents. But then I have also been slapped with the realization that our children are only as safe as the homes in which they play. The sobering reality is that the only way to have a really safe community is for every home to be safe.

Nehemiah had a powerful strategy for creating a strong and safe city. The guards were assigned to secure the area near their own house. In a sense, this was the very first “Neighborhood Watch”. Nehemiah knew that any guard would be most highly motivated to protect his own house. That is a reality. But he also realized that the wall would only be as secure as the weakest link or the weakest home, and this strategy would build strength. If each family guarded the wall carefully at their home's point, there would be a strong and safe city.

We often see disarray in our nation or even in the church, and we might wonder— Where does the chaos come from? We fail to realize that ultimately it is not the "chief at the citadel" who guards the walls. It is not the pastor of the church, the superintendent of the Sunday School, the deacons, or the elders who guard and secure the nation or the church. It is the strength of each house.

Some will argue at great length about who should be the head of the house. Ultimately, it is an argument over who shall be the greatest servant. But we still miss the point. No one can make your home secure but YOU. No one can invite the Lord's presence to watch over your house but you. A church is only as strong as the homes that are in it; a nation is only as secure as its homes. A neighborhood is only as safe as what is hidden in its homes. Weakness and vulnerability come to the body when we allow our homes to be invaded.

How do we make a difference? Probably not by rules, laws, or legalistic religion. That never seems to work. But if you and I will commit to secure our homes and guard our part of the wall, if we will live as covenant people, if we will take seriously the dangers we allow into our homes, and if we will seek to live as people aware that our homes affect the security of the entire community, the wall will be secure.

How is your part of the wall? I am checking mine over today.

Lord, give me grace and strength to keep my part of the wall secure. Give me wisdom to watch and guard against the things that may destroy the security of the wall. Show me the things that may be a stumbling block to others in the body of Christ. Teach me to keep the dangerous things locked away from my home. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy.