Most Men Are...

Nehemiah 7:2

I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani...because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.

"Most Men are..." I know! I know! There are many negative adjectives that come to mind when you hear the phrase "Most Men..." Through the years there has been much to say about the lack of good men because "most men" are...

Men have been given a bad rap because of the overgeneralization of negative behavior that seems to repeat itself in the male species. Behavior like; corruption, infidelity, narcissism, violence and a lack of fear of God.

God created man in his own image and he expects more from his creation. since the prototypical Man, Adam, men have struggled with being the creation that God meant us to be. After Adam fell he tried to hide from God and God came looking for him by asking, "Adam, where are you?' Today, God is still looking for men who have messed up but still have some good left in them but like most men many of us are still hiding with our potential still locked up in us.

God put Adam in charge because he was made in God's image which meant he had the potential to be like God but he also had the fallibility of being human. Like most men, Adam had the potential for good and evil.

Like Most Men, we all want to be used of God but like Most men our actions often disqualify us from being used like we want to but what gives us hope is the second man. I Corinthians 15:45 the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit. What enables us not to be like most men is the life-giving Sprit of Jesus, the Son of Man. I was disqualified because of the first man I became like most men but because of Jesus, the second man, I was redeemed to be able to live a life different from most men. I was like most men because of my natural man but because of the second man, Jesus, I've been restored to my God-like potential. While everybody else saw the worst in me God saw the best in me and put me in charge because I was not like most men because of the second man, Jesus!

After Nehemiah rebuilt the gates of jerusalem he put his brother in charge of the gates. Jesus was our Nehemiah who restored our spiritual foundation and then put us in charge because we were no longer like most men. Nehemiah put his brother in charge for two reasons:

1. He was a man of integrity. Jesus doesn't put us in charge because we are Holy, he makes us Holy so we can be in charge. David was a man after God's own heart but he was also an adulterer and murderer but he had the integrity to say, "I have sinned against you, renew the right spirit within me, and restore the joy of my salvation." Integrity is not pretending to "be the man" but admitting that "you are the man" that has sinned and needs God's help.

2. Feared God more than most men do. David told his son Solomon that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. David showed that he feared God when he cut a piece of Saul's robe in I Samuel 24. David said, "i will not touch the Lord's anointed." When David told Saul that he had a chance to kill him but he didn't because he was the Lord's anointed Saul said, "You are more righteous than I." In other word's, David feared God more than most men.

What sets me apart from most men is not that I'm better than they are but I fear God more than most men. That's the only thing that keeps me from being disqualified. Are you like most men?

Dear God,

Thank you for using me in spite of myself. Help me to be more like the second man than the first man. Help me to be more spiritual than carnal. Order my steps so that I might go where you want me to go and do what you want me to do. It is no longer my life to live but my life is hidden in Christ and it's in Jesus Name that I pray!

Amen