Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:3-6)
In these Old Testament verses, God tells His servant Haggai to bring down the prophetic hammer on the people…. But I think these verses may also be speaking to us. Let’s do as it says here, and ‘give careful thought’ to our ways. We are so rich and blessed, yet we more and more often find that we are not satisfied. It is as if we cannot be filled up – and in fact, it is true that we can’t be filled with the things of this life. We can eat more, drink more, buy more…. And yet we remain empty inside. The analogy of the ‘God-shaped hole’ is certainly appropriate, is it not?
So, what does God tell His people to do about this emptiness?
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. (Haggai 1:7-8)
God says, “Build my house”! Now, if you read last week’s entry, “Home Is Where The Heart Is”, you remember that we are now the temple of God – this is where He chooses to reside! So what does this mean for us? Well, quite simply, we need to work on the Lord's house (us) first, and then we will be able to find contentment in the things around us.
And if you continue reading Haggai, you will see what happened - after they got to work on God's temple, from the very moment the foundation was laid, they found their blessings!
“‘From this day on I will bless you.’” (Haggai 2:19b)
Make no mistake – just as the Old Testament people of God were blessed from the moment they began taking serious their physical House of God, so He will also bring glory to our ‘house’ (the Living Temple of the Lord) when we focus on that first and foremost!
#LoveMatters
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