SPEAKER_00: Good morning and welcome to your daily walk.
SPEAKER_00: This is Dan.
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual drift is something that can happen so gradually that you don't even notice.
SPEAKER_00: It's the slow process of moving away from your faith, values, and spiritual disciplines.
SPEAKER_00: And it happens often because of all the daily distractions that just seem to gnaw away at our souls.
SPEAKER_00: In Nehemiah 13, spiritual drift occurred in various stages over time during Nehemiah's absence from Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: You see, after the joyful celebration of chapter 12, Nehemiah returned to Persia to resume being cupbearer to King Artaxerxes.
SPEAKER_00: And after a little more than a decade, he returned to Jerusalem only to discover how much spiritual drift occurred in his absence.
SPEAKER_00: Just how badly did the community backslide?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the people allowed Tobiah, an enemy of God's people, to live in a room in the temple courts.
SPEAKER_00: The Levites and musicians had to abandon their temple duties to go and work in the fields because the people stopped tithing.
SPEAKER_00: The Sabbath stopped being observed.
SPEAKER_00: And when Jewish men intermingled with foreign women, things got so bad that the next generation couldn't even speak or understand the language of Judah, much less the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's how bad it got.
SPEAKER_00: Just as spiritual drift plagued those in Jerusalem, it can do the same to us today.
SPEAKER_00: We need to take a hint from Isaiah 26.3, which says that God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in Him.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we must pray that God will keep our hearts and minds focused on Him and keep us free from the distractions of this world.
SPEAKER_00: There's a Puritan prayer that speaks to this issue, which says in part, Lord, help me, for I am often lukewarm.
SPEAKER_00: Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots.
SPEAKER_00: Grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to you, that all else is trifling.
SPEAKER_00: Move upon my disordered heart.
SPEAKER_00: Take away my roving eye and lustful heart.
SPEAKER_00: Then take me to the cross and leave me there.
SPEAKER_00: And with that prayer, I want to thank you for joining me.
SPEAKER_00: I hope this helps.