Interest
Day 304, Wednesday, June 11
Neh. 5:1 – 6:3
Nehemiah, we remember, is a servant of King Artaxerxes, who appointed him governor of the land of Judah.
The immediate crisis in today’s reading is a famine that is forcing people to borrow both grain and money and, contrary to the law of Moses, some of those lending it are charging interest. While in our day we would consider borrowing money at 1 percent interest to be a gift in itself, it was enough to anger Nehemiah.
The law was that Jews could charge interest to outsiders, but not to other Jews.
As the famine has been severe, there were also cases of the wealthy taking the property of the poor or even forcing them into slavery—also forbidden for fellow Jews.
While Nehemiah doesn’t use the term “servant leader,” his description of his own governorship shows that he was one.
While previous governors had imposed heavy taxes on the people, Nehemiah does not even accept the food allotted to the governor, “because the demands were heavy on these people.” Instead, he was generous with his own wealth, feeding 150 people each day in addition to foreign guests.
Rather than lording his power over others, Nehemiah said, “Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall.”
He prays that God will take note of his leadership, asking, “Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.”

Wednesday meditation

Proverbs 30:11-14
There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.

Prayer focus
Lord, let us faithfully serve those whom we lead.

-Rev. Mark Fleming