Today's Reading:
Haggai 1:1-2:23
Mark 10:13-31
Proverbs 27:23-28:6
Click on Text Link to Read Online
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:
When Israel returned from exile and captivity, their first
priority seems to have been to rebuild their own homes and lives.
Evidently, they got very use to thinking about rebuilding the Temple
as something they would get around to someday. Haggai confronted them
with their self-centered procrastination. He warned them that it was
time to put God first. They could no longer put their own comfort and
gain before worship and reverence for God, and expect God to bless
them.
Response and Action:
I need to put first things first. I need to be sure worship and
service for God are a higher priority to me than personal gain and
comfort. What am I not giving to God because I am spending it on
myself? What am I not able to do for God because I am too busy doing
things for me? How can I expect to be blessed by God if I put worship
and service for him behind what I do for myself?
O God, help me to seek you and
serve you with true reverence and devotion. Forgive me for the times I
am guided by my own selfish ambition rather than selfless worship for
you. Help me to seek your kingdom and your righteousness above all
else. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Spiritual
Formation
Verses: Matthew 6:31-34
Resources:
Freedom from Tyranny of the Urgent
by Charles E. Hummel
No comments:
Post a Comment