Overview of: HaggaiToday's Reading:
Haggai 1:1 – 2:5
"A Call to Build"
Focus Verses: Haggai 1:2-6
2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the LORD's house to be built.' " 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?" 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."
Insight:
About 50,000 Jews returned from their captivity in Persia to restore Jerusalem. In yesterday’s reading (Ezra), we observed that the first thing the returning exiles did was to erect an altar to the Lord, and to build the foundation for the Temple they planned to restore.
With that good start, the people then turned their attention to building their own homes, planting crops, and setting up their businesses. Unfortunately, as they became more involved with their own daily affairs, they fell into a pattern of procrastination regarding the Temple. God sent the prophet Haggai to warn the people about their priorities. It was time to put God first and complete the rebuilding of the Temple.
Response and Action:
There are days and seasons in life where it is difficult to balance the practical demands of daily life with my intentions and priority for personal worship and devotion. It's easy for Bible reading, prayer, and church to get bumped aside by illness, unexpected work demands, family concerns, bad weather, and traffic jams.
It's one thing for my worship and spiritual disciplines to be disrupted occasionally; it's another thing to slip into a pattern of procrastination. Disruptions can too easily become disregard. Disregard will certainly lead into disillusion and dismay. I must put God first and make worship and personal devotion to him a priority.
O God, help me to be a good steward of all you have given to me. Grant me the wisdom and the will to guard my heart, feed my spirit, stimulate my mind, and care for my body. Help me to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Teach me to seek you first above all else. Be the center, the foundation, and the wellspring of my life. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 7:4-5
"Say to wisdom, 'You are my sister,' and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words."
New Testament for Today: Matthew 6:33-34
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
In Context: Matt. 6:25-34
Recommended Reading:
Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent
by Charles E. Hummel
