Suggested reading: Nehemiah chapter 3 verses 1-32

In our meditation today, we begin travelling down the western wall of the city of Jerusalem. We leave the Sheep Gate, the Fish Gate and the Old Gate behind and reach the VALLEY GATE, verse 13. If you were to read earlier in the book of Nehemiah, you would discover that this was the Gate through which Nehemiah went, when he carried out his initial inspection of the state of the wall of Jerusalem. There was no great fanfare when he did so. Very quietly, humbly and unobtrusively he went through this gate to acquaint himself with the task God had given him to do. This Gate, therefore, reminds us that there is no room for self or pride in God’s Plan of salvation. The well-known hymn, ‘Rock of Ages’, expresses it like this:

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly:
Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

Peter says, ‘Be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble’, 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 5. We must come humbly to God if we want to receive His salvation and pride must be absent from us if we wish to serve Him as a Christian. We must learn the lesson of the VALLEY GATE!
(To be continued next week)