LEARNING DAILY
Haggai 1:5-7,
Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts; “Consider your ways! You
eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you
clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to
put into a bag with holes.: Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!”
(Darkened words are my emphasis.)
The
Israelite people were returning from their time of captivity in Babylon. They had
been busy clearing the land where the destroyed temple had been and had
completed the foundation for the second temple in Jerusalem when their
neighbors, the Samaritans and others who had moved onto their land in their absence
saw what they were doing and began to be very aggressive in getting the Israelites
to stop. Those opposing the work were successful and the rebuilding of the
temple was stopped. The Israelites then turned to building their own houses; in
this process they stopped seeking the Lord and did what only pleased
themselves. This is paraphrased from the introduction to the book of Haggai in
the David Jeremiah Study Bible.
The efforts
of the people to rebuild their houses left the temple, God’s house, unbuilt. None
of the efforts of the people to please themselves succeeded; their efforts only
caused their vision of God to be unclear and they suffered in all areas of their
lives. Read the verses above again and now notice that their lives became
focusses on more, their work, their effort resulting in “not enough”. It is
necessary to know that this message was not just for the leaders. It was for
all the people. Haggai accused the people of being indifferent and neglecting
God in order to indulge themselves by putting their priorities before God.
Another term
for this is being apathetic. The dictionary would define apathy as a lack of
feeling or emotion; a lack of interest or concern, indifferent. It is a sense
of one not caring; in this case it is simply putting one’s interests ahead of
God’s. Author, Tim Keller states, “The greatest threat to the church today is
apathy from within”. The Bible tells us that when we received Jesus Christ as
our Savior and then He becomes the Lord of our life we receive everything we
need to live the life God wants us to live (read 2 Peter 1:3-8). It becomes the
Believer’s choice whether or not he/she will use the tools God gives us at our
salvation to grow in, Him and to place His priorities before our own.
Haggai
certainly speaks to each Believer today: what happens in their heart affects
every aspect of life. The people of Israel became selfish and the result was
the loss of God’s blessings. He told them to reflect on the consequences of not
doing what God had instructed them to do and to reconsider the priorities. “Consider
your ways!” Haggai wrote.
The word
from Haggai certainly is important today. Matthew wrote it differently in Matthew
6:31-34, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘what
shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For all these things the Gentiles
seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
“Consider
your ways! As we begin 2024, perhaps each Believer might consider their own
priorities and see if they are being thought as more important than God’s priorities.
God’s priorities are for each Believer to seek Him and His righteousness before
everything else. Believers must diligently seek to have the rule and power of
God demonstrated in their lives (a note I have written in my Study Bible). God’s
presence, power, and provision are always available when He is the priority of
Believers (David Jeremiah Study Bible).
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