“So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!” Haggai 1:3-6
Consider how things are going for you. Maybe in your assessment you feel as though things are pretty good. In this period of your life you are content.
But may I ask if that contentment comes from the perspective of the world?
Are you well off according to the standards of man? Is your worldly home in better condition than the house of the Lord?
What harvest are you investing in? The world’s harvest produces little; the food is available but does not satisfy. The profit made on your harvest, is it used to make your worldly home more luxurious, more appealing to the eyes of man?
Oh, how I desire that we, you and me, would consider how things are going for us spiritually. That we would put down the things of this world and pick up the things of Christ.
Oh, how I desperately desire that our eyes, yours and mine, would be opened to see His house lying in ruins, all because we have put Him second, third, fourth, or not even at all, in order to better our worldly homes, our worldly pleasure.
I desire that we, you and me, would see just how deep our hunger, our thirst, and our desire for warmth truly goes, but not just ours, but others who are in true need., for they are the ones who suffer from hunger, thirst, and lack of warmth. Yet we withhold from them, from Him.
Oh, that we, you and me, could see what they see. How can we see our Father’s house lying in ruins, yet not do what is needed to re-build it. How can we move past the place of contentment, complacency, and mediocrity and plant much and harvest much.
Consider what you plant, consider your profit and how you invest, consider your priorities, consider His house.
Consider Him first!
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses.” Haggai 1:7-9
Merciful Lord I will go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild your house. For then You will take pleasure in it and be honored. Jesus help me plant a great harvest for You. Help me focus on Your house. Amen
