Focus: Bank With God

Text: Neh.13:14

"Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof."

Account with God is opened by faith and run by the currency of obedience. The Scripture tells us that Abraham believed God and it was accounted for him as righteousness. Paul says, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (Gal.3:6). Believing God and His word is all it takes to have an account with Him.

For all of us who have been saved through faith in Christ Jesus, we all have an account with God. Paul says, "Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your ACCOUNT" (Phil.4:17). Paul desired for us to have a fat account with God - a buoyant and bubbling account. Paul longed for us to have a rich account with God. In this account we are required to deposit our righteousness, our money or resources, our good works, our mercifulness and generosity. 

I repeat, we bank with God when we love, give, forgive, do good, live right, bless others, help others, pray to God for others, and obey God's demands.

Christ said to the rich young ruler, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and GIVE to the poor, and thou shalt have TREASURE in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me" (Mk.10:21). Giving to the poor is one sure way of making huge deposits into our heavenly account. Christ says to His disciples, "LAY NOT UP for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But LAY UP for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal" (Mt.6:19,20). Our heavenly account is eternally guaranteed and secured by our God.

Hezekiah understood the importance of banking with God by way of pleasing God and doing his behest. A time came when he fell sick and death was knocking at the door of his heart. In fact, God told him, through Isaiah the prophet, to put his house in order and get ready to die. Hezekiah instantly turned his face to the wall and called upon God, and here's the content of his prayer: "I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore" (2Kgs.20:3). Hezekiah prayed with tears in his eyes and asked God to check out his account history. He said in essence, 'My account with you is consistently credited with good works. I have walked with you wholeheartedly and in integrity. Consider my devotion and dedication to Your purpose, and restore my life.' Without delay, God sent word back to him through Isaiah, and here's the message: "Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have HEARD thy prayer, I have SEEN thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD." Not only did God restore his health but added fifteen more years to him. God reversed the death sentence for him.

After Abraham obeyed God and sacrificed his only son Isaac, God said to him, "By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" (Gen.22:16,17).

One truth we should know is that God favorably deals with and kindly treats us, and from time to time He rewards us for our personal or individual righteousness.

God may choose to bless us purely on the basis of His grace or do us good on account of our own good works. A friend of mine, on his way back from work, was stopped by a band of armed robbers, who were bent on not only robbing him of his stuff, but also killing him. While they were searching his car and collecting all his valuables, one of them noticed him and shouted to his fellow robbers, 'This man must not die. If we kill him, a lot of people will go hungry in this country. He is a good man.' That was how they spared his life and restored to him all that they stole from him. He lived to tell the story. God used his good deeds to spare his life.

According to our text, Nehemiah prayed, ""Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out MY GOOD DEEDS that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof." In verse 22, he prayed again, "Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy" (Neh.13:22). Again in verse 31, he prayed, "Remember me, O my God, for good" (Neh.13:31). 

I pray you begin to grow your account with God, because He uses the good you do to process your deliverance and blessing. I plead with you to get into the habit of banking with God and to do all in your power to growing your heavenly account.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter