Nehemiah 10:17-27: in context

This passage is a list of names, the leaders of the people who set their seal to a solemn covenant to follow God. After returning from exile and hearing God's law read, the people committed themselves afresh to obey him, and their representatives put their names to the agreement. Each name recorded here is a person who personally bound himself to walk with God.

What is striking is the personal, deliberate nature of this commitment. It was not a vague, general resolve; individuals put their names to it, one by one, publicly binding themselves to God and his ways. Following God was, for each of them, a chosen and owned commitment, sealed with their name.

Faith is not merely inherited or assumed; at some point it must be personally owned, deliberately chosen, as these people chose, each setting his name to the covenant. God's people are those who have, in effect, signed their names, binding themselves to follow him, not drifting along in vague association but committing themselves personally and deliberately to walk in his ways.

Have I personally and deliberately committed myself to follow God, as these people each set their name to the covenant, or am I drifting along in vague association without ever having truly bound myself to walk in his ways?