September 20, 2017. Haggai 1-2.

 

God’s people have returned from captivity to their own land.  The land the Lord God has given to them.  They can now begin to refocus on God instead of their slavery in Babylon.  They can now begin to rebuild the temple.  They can now have God as their top priority. But sixteen years after they began the project of rebuilding the temple, it still remains unfinished.  They are comfortably living in their own homes while the Lord’s house remains unfinished.

So God speaks to the people through His prophet Haggai and the key point the Lord makes very early on is repeated two times.

Haggai 1:5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!

Haggai 1:7 Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways! 

Two times the Lord exhorts His people to give careful thought to their ways.  The ways He wants them to consider are found between these two verses and can be summed up, “Consider how you are spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.”

This is what happens when God’s people allow their personal affairs to interfere with God’s “business.”  They end up putting a lot of effort into their personal affairs and really getting nowhere.  Verse 6 could be the description of the life of many of the Lord’s people today – if they honestly consider their ways.

The solution is simple. It is seen in the example, in Haggai, of what happens when God’s people truly consider their ways.

Haggai 1:14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God,

As the people gave careful thought to their ways, the Lord stirred up their spirit within them so that they willingly choose to get back to God’s business.

In order to get our life in order, as God’s people, we need to regularly take time to follow God’s repeated advice to these people and consider our ways.  To consider if we have allowed our personal affairs to interfere with God’s business of having a personal life and conduct of holiness (1Peter 1:15). To consider if we have allowed our personal affairs to interfere with the use of the freedom we have, as a result of our salvation, to “through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13).  To consider if our life as a Christian is nothing more than spinning our wheels and getting nowhere.

When we take time to regularly do this then we will be blessed with the Lord stirring our spirit so that we willingly and excitedly choose to get back to the Lord’s “business” in our daily life.