Committing to God's purpose

As my grandma used to say, sometimes we need "to put our blinders on," and refocus on something. So, I'm going to plow a little of last week's ground and then start afresh . . .
Bear with me here, and follow along, OK?

It's important to remember some of the things that we covered last week, when we think about how Nehemiah committed to the purpose of God.
He didn't hear about the deplorable conditions and say, "Wow, that's a shame. Someone should do something about that." Instead, he was willing to wholeheartedly commit himself to the task -- and we will see in later chapters that he was willing to stick with it, too, in spite of tremendous difficulties!
Nehemiah tells us (since this book is written in first-person) that he was cupbearer to the king:

I was cupbearer to the king. (Nehemiah 1:11b)

We've noted that there is a lot packed into that short sentence.
The cupbearer was a high, important position in the royal court. It was his responsibility to choose the wine ("Oh, that's an excellent year.") and to taste it before it was served to the king -- to ensure that it was not poisoned. As a courtier, he would have been a handsome, well-dressed man, well educated and trained in all of the tiny details of court etiquette. He would have been a good listener, an excellent companion; he would have not only been happy to offer a willing ear, but also occasional advice! Because of all this, Nehemiah was a highly trusted man.
Scholars tell us that the cupbearer could be the "keeper" of the royal signet (used for signing and validating royal decrees), be in charge of household administration, and have many more responsibilities that the ruler would honor him with.

The palace? That was no shabby place! Nehemiah lived in the city of Susa, in the king's palace, and excavations have revealed it's amazing opulence. As the layers of earth and rubble of many years have been peeled away, the archaeologists have seen that it was built with cedar, gold, silver, and ivory.  Walls have been uncovered that displayed many colors of glazed bricks and murals, as well as relief designs of winged bulls.  We can see that Nehemiah would have eaten the best food, worn the best clothes, and lived in very comfortable quarters.
Today, we'd say he had a cushy job!
We don't know why he didn't return with the remnant that traveled with Ezra thirteen years before, but it could be that like Daniel and his friends, he'd been conscripted into the king's service as a young man -- he would not have been free to leave.

Look at what happens, though. When he hears about the distress of God's people, and the dishonor to God's name, he cannot be happy in this cushy job any longer. He can't enjoy the luxurious surroundings any more. He is willing to give it all up. He's willing to make the difficult trek across the desert sands to Jerusalem.
He wants the job of mobilizing the people and rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
Why?
He has the vision. He wants God's name to be honored and glorified.
It's going to be a stressful undertaking.
It's going to be a costly sacrifice.
He was going to give up all of the comforts he enjoyed and endure a lot of hardships.
But he was going to find joy in doing what God wanted him to do.
So he committed to His purpose.
Paul summed up this kind of commitment for us:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish,  (Philippians 3:8a)

Are we like Nehemiah? Are we like Paul?
Are we willing to count the world as loss for the sake of God's purpose?
Are we committed to our Savior's purpose in this world?
Are we finding joy in doing what God would have us do?