Haggai 13 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
The temple of God had been destroyed in 586 BC. Some 48 years later Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. So in 536 the rebuilding of the temple began but after six years, building came to a halt. And so it remained in this semi-built state for another 10 years, and this is when the Lord spoke to Haggai (520BC). The people were living in homes that were comfortable but the Lord’s temple remained unbuilt.
In the verse above, God’s word comes through the prophet and asks the people how come this is so?
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have 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.”
Wow, when I read this, it really spoke to me. It seems to be really what has been happening in my life for a long time. I feel I have been faithful to God in so many areas of my life, and yet I harvest little. I eat but never have enough and it feels as if my purse has holes in it. Finances are always a struggle in my business which I have run for the last 10 years.
Haggai 1 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.
I feel like verse 9, what I brought home the Lord blew away. For a long time, many years now, I have had this word from God, “seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you”. I feel that in the last few months I have started doing that and I have expected to see immediate results.
The results have come in some ways but not financially. There I still feel the pressure.
So this verse comes again to me and again God repeats that I must set my priorities straight. I also know that when you set your house in order it is planting a seed. And seeds take some time to grow. So I cant look for the fruit immediately.
The great thing in this passage in Haggai is that it is only three weeks into the part where the people hear the word of God through the prophet and they turn to God again, where God speaks again to the people to encourage them that although it my not look as good as the old temple, it will be even more glorious.
Then the Lord speaks through Haggai for the third time in chapter 2 verse 10. This is exactly three months from the first message which the people responded to. And the Lord says to the people that “From this day on I will bless you”.
I really believe this as God speaking to me and again reconfirming his word and says keep going. I am pleased with you. The blessings are coming.
I believe Lord, help my unbelief!
3 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”Haggain
New beginnings
Jan 1
So today is a new day, a new month, a new year and even a new decade. I think of the verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17 which speaks about old things passing away and everything becoming new. And every year that comes around my wife and I stay up to see the New Year in and we wish one another a happy new year and we look forward to new things in our life.
So I guess that often the feeling of the new does not last that long. I know the word of God says that his mercies are new every day, but somehow New Year slips in and before long the year is the same old same old. The secret I sense is not clinging to new starts, but learning to walk daily in the newness that God brings to us on a regular basis.
Nevertheless sometimes, having an opportunity to launch something new or to have a fresh start can be a god given gift and so if you plan to read the Bible from cover to cover in a year, then the 1st of January is a good time to begin. But missing the 1st is not a train smash. I know how often I disappoint myself by not having the discipline I need to do the things that God has for me to do, and instead I waste my time on non-essential things and do not prioritise God first.
God is a God who wants first fruits. He wants to be the first thought on our minds in the day. If you don’t think God is jealous go and read the second commandment. God is jealous about our time and our attention – amazing but true.
May this year be the best one yet in my service to Him!