• Sign in

• Home
• Write for World-Wide Bible Studies
• Sign in
• About
• Contact

What Have You Been Doing?

Slackers
Hag 1:2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

Haggai boldly proclaims the God’s accusation against His people. The people of faith cowered in fear. They compromised with their opponents to keep the peace. Through the prophet, God was stepping in to let them know it was time to get off their collective butts and get back to work. Fear does not excuse laziness, compromise, or lack of faith. God’s enemies always used fear as their greatest weapon. Faith in God, by definition, means overcoming fear to trust in the more powerful divine force of God.

Priorities
Hag 1:3-4 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Solomon said there is a time for everything. God was telling the people through Haggai that it was time to put God first. Based on this statement it seems clear that the people were successfully rebuilding their homes. They must have been experiencing at least modest prosperity since their return. This prophetic statement shows that in God’s eyes the people were being selfish. Love is unselfish. If the people loved God, they should have been putting God ahead of themselves. As Jesus put it, “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 6:33). The initial zeal of the returning exiles was quickly lost when faced with opposition. The people caved in. They worked to satisfy their own wants rather then serve the purpose of their return. This example hits entirely too close to home for many of us who claim faith with our mouths but serve ourselves with our hands.

False Hope
Hag 1:5-6 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

The chase for worldly success is always a hollow quest. Enough is never enough when you seek satisfaction in things. The most basic physical human needs are air, water, food, and shelter. After the basic needs are met, we seek comfort and security. Just as the flesh seeks comfort and security, the mind seeks truth and the heart seeks joy. Truth and joy come from God. When we do not seek God, we search for truth and joy in things of the world. We aspire to fame, fortune, power, and pleasure. Those things are all deceptive. We may discover knowledge and we may experience pleasure, but none of those things yield truth or joy. What we know is useful as a means to an end, but knowledge is no end in itself. Happiness is an emotion. It is a fleeting sensation, like the moment of sexual release or the taste of chocolate. Joy is not a mere emotion, it is a state of mind. It is an outlook that finds the best in life. Truth is ultimately a person – the person of God. He made Himself known to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus proclaimed he was truth (Jn 14:8). Creation points to the Creator. Only when we seek the Creator rather than the created will we find the truth. God promises that if we seek Him we will find Him (Dt 4:29, Pr 8:17, Jer 29:13, Mt 7:8). Such was the case with the returning exiles who were enjoying material gains while ignoring their purpose in returning. God’s people would do well today to ask if we are pursuing temporary worldly pleasure or eternal joy.

Personal Thoughts...
I've wasted much of my life in selfish pursuits. Dare I say, nearly all of it. Yet redemption is the hope we claim. I make the claim with my lips, but my actions are woeful. I take these words to heart as a call for action. Father forgive me, thank you for showing me the Truth, for your redemption, and lead me in your paths of holiness and love that I would reflect your grace and no more walk in the ways of self and pride. Amen.
 

• Home
• Terms of Service
• Privacy
• Categories
• Writers' Guidelines
• Write for World-Wide Bible Studies
• Tag Cloud
• About
• Contact