Preparing my heart...
Today's Reading: Haggai 1-2
1 In the second year of
Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of
the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of
Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high
priest: 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet
come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the
hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your
paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the
Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 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.
7 “Thus says the Lord of
hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the
house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the
Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you
brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my
house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.
10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has
withheld its produce. 11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills,
on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man
and beast, and on all their labors.”
The People Obey the Lord
12 Then Zerubbabel the
son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all
the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the
words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people
feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people
with the Lord's message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” 14 And the Lord
stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah,
and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit
of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the
Lord of hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the
sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
The Coming Glory of the Temple
2 In the seventh month,
on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of
Haggai the prophet: 2 “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor
of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the
remnant of the people, and say, 3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in
its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? 4
Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of
Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the
Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, 5 according to the
covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in
your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a
little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry
land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations
shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8
The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 The
latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of
hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”
Blessings for a Defiled People
10 On the twenty-fourth
day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came
by Haggai the prophet, 11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about
the law: 12 ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and
touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it
become holy?’” The priests answered and said, “No.” 13 Then Haggai said, “If
someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does
it become unclean?” The priests answered and said, “It does become unclean.” 14
Then Haggai answered and said, “So is it with this people, and with this nation
before me, declares the Lord, and so with every work of their hands. And what
they offer there is unclean. 15 Now then, consider from this day onward. Before
stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord, 16 how did you fare?
When one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came
to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty. 17 I struck you
and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail,
yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord. 18 Consider from this day
onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the
foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider: 19 Is the seed yet in the
barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have
yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
20 The word of the Lord
came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, 21 “Speak
to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and
the earth, 22 and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I am about to destroy
the strength of the kingdoms of the nations, and overthrow the chariots and
their riders. And the horses and their riders shall go down, every one by the
sword of his brother. 23 On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take
you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make
you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.”
Devotional Thoughts
Haggai is one of those little books in the "Minor" prophets we often ignore. That is a shame because the message of this minor prophet is major! Another year is ending. We don't know how long it is until the world itself ends, but we know we are one year closer. This world and everything in it has an expiration date. Haggai reminds us to live today with priorities that recognize that God is more important than anything in this world.
If you see a house on fire, you don't run into it hide all your valuables there, do you? You remove them! You try to salvage what you can. In the same way, as Jesus said, we ought to store up treasures in heaven because whatever we invest in here on earth is going to rust, mold or burn.
A youth pastor I knew gave the best illustration of life I ever heard. He rented a limousine and took his small youth group out for a night on the town (in Cedar Rapids). He took them to a fancy restaurant, to museums, to all kinds of expensive places. Finally, he took them to the gates of Mt. Trashmore, Cedar Rapids' dump. He said, "Everything you saw today ends up here." Wow.
That's how we live our lives, isn't it? We devote ourselves to this world, which is destined to be destroyed, while we ignore the things of God. It is the worst investment decision any of us could ever make.
Haggai was a prophet to the people of Israel who had returned from exile in Babylon. They had come back to the land with the intent of rebuilding the Temple and reestablishing the worship of Yahweh. But, of course, they first had to erect places that they could live in and walls to protect them. Suddenly, it was many years later and they were living in comfort while the Temple still lay in ruins. They continually procrastinated. "The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt." (Haggai 1:2). They had become so devoted to their own comfort and prosperity they had no time to build a place of worship for the Lord.
God's patience with this procrastination was at an end, and he sent Haggai to warn the people, "Think carefully about your ways." They were living with (borrowing from Revelation 18) Babylonian priorities. There minds were on their own comfort and convenience and they cared little for the things of God.
There are consequences to that. We could call it the Curse of Misplaced Priorities. When we invest ourselves in this world, we bring certain natural consequences, designed by God, upon our lives. Look at what God said through Haggai in 1:6.
You have planted much but harvested little.
You eat but never have enough to be satisfied.
You drink but never have enough to become drunk.
You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm.
The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.”
There is an inverse proportion principle at work in the kingdom of God. Jesus mentioned it often. "He who saves his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will save it." What you seek is not what you get. "Seek first the kingdom and all these things will be added to you as well. Here, the more you invest in your own life, the less you will have of peace, satisfaction, and contentment.
The less you focus on your own things and give attention the things of God, the more you receive of peace, satisfaction, and contentment.
There are five statements there that describe the dissatisfaction, frustration and futility of the life with misplaced priorities.
- No matter how much work you do, there is little return (eternally) on your investment. In the kingdom, a grain of mustard seed moves mountain. With misplaced priorities, we can barely move the mustard seed!
- The next three speak to satisfaction and contentment. When you invest in this world, it's never enough. Ever eaten a meal so good that you didn't want to eat again for a month? Of course not. The things of this world never satisfy for more than a moment. You eat, but its not enough. You drink, but you want more. You put on clothes, but you are still cold. This world offers fun and good times, but not satisfaction.
- Finally, misplaced priorities produce lost opportunity - what might have been. You stick money in a bag, but the bag has a hole. The money goes away and you don't get to enjoy it. You had it all, but you squandered it. I hate writing this, because boy-oh-boy have I been there! But it is a marker of misplaced priorities that you squander the opportunities and blessings that God gives you.
There is a solution, though. Build the house of God. In the OT, that was a building on a hill just above the City of David to the north. But we are the Temple of the Living God today - both individually and as a church. We need to build the church and we need to build our lives as sanctuaries of God's presence. Cleanse it. Honor God's presence. Make the sacrifice (well, honor the one Christ made) and devote yourself to the service of God.
Father, I have seen so much of the Curse of Misplaced Priorities in my life - work without return, dissatisfaction and lost opportunity. Cleanse my heart as your sacrifice. I thank you for the sacrifice made for me once for all by Christ. Consecrate me, Lord, for your service.
Give Careful Thought to Your Ways....
No, this is not a plea to begin a new building fund at the church - that would be doing violence to the meaning of this passage.
This is about misplaced priorities.
What are you living your life for?
- Is your life devoted to God and eternal things?
- Or are you devoted to money, fun, self, pleasure, advancement?
Whose pleasure and applause means most to you?
- Do you care mosts about pleasing God and receiving his "well done?"
- Do you please people to receive their applause, admiration, and affection?
What is the reward you seek?
- Eternal and heavenly reward - the treasures Jesus promised in glory?
- Earthly and temporal reward - the things of this world?
Do the "curses of misplace priorities seem a reality in your life?
- Do you work and work with little return on your investment?
- Do you find little contentment and satisfaction in the things you do? No matter what you get you want something else?
- Do you seem to squander the opportunities you have?
Will you take time to "Give careful thought to your ways?"
Hymn of the Day
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are
weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
William D. Longstaff
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