The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassanah.  They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.  Meremoth son of Urah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section.  Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs.  The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa… (Neh. 3:3-5 New International Version)

To many people the books of the Old Testament are boring and uninteresting to read.  But all the books in the Bible were put there for a purpose – for an example for us to learn and follow. 

In Nehemiah chapter 3, the people were rebuilding Jerusalem’s wall which was destroyed. (Chapter 1:1-3).  Everybody came together to complete this huge task.  But have you noticed that the author took time to name each individual and who they were, on this project?  

"Meremoth son of Urah the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section"

 Also notice it was mentioned who was next to him.   

"Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs."

Right through the chapter you will basically get the same story repeated but with different unpronounceable names.  You could only picture what was happening here at this construction site.  Everybody cooperating to get the task at hand completed.  Friends, strangers, neighbours, even families got together to help build this wall.   

But who were these people?  Why take the time to name them? 

I believe God’s purpose is to show us that when we do good and make valuable contributions to society we will be remembered by him.  I am sure most of these people were just ordinary folks like you and me who decided to pitch in and help - to what to them must have been a very important task – the re-building of the Jerusalem wall. Living a Christian life is not always easy. 

There will be times when we ‘fall’ and when that happens we are branded as hypocrites by those who expect us to be perfect at all times.  All they ever see are the wrongs or negatives that we do and totally ignore what good and positives we have done.  But God is not like that.  He carefully records all the good we have done in His Book of Life. 

"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.  Another book was opened, which is the book of life.  The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." (Rev. 20.12)

The people who helped Nehemiah probably were not as great as Abraham or Moses or even Nehemiah himself, but they did something which God recognized them for and became a part of history.  We too can become a part of history in some small way or other by playing a part in building God’s Kingdom.  

Always remember that whenever we do good and positive acts someone always sees and benefits by it even if we ourselves don’t realize it.  Don’t do good just to get praises from others, but to make a difference in someone else’s life even if it’s just one person.  God will remember.