GIVE CAREFUL THOUGHT

January 25, 2022

 Haggai 1:2-7 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3Then 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? 5Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6You 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.

Matthew 6:31-34 

31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Give Careful Thought

God took the time to repeat Himself here, so let’s take some time to really do what this verse calls us to do—reflect on our lives. As you take this seriously by giving it careful thought, how can you begin to release to God leadership in your life?

In our Haggai reading above God through the prophet challenges the people then and us today. God speaks, "think about how you're living. Is it time for you to live in these paneled houses when My house is left in ruins?  According to some commentaries that I read, basically, this was high-end living.  You've got all this kind of stuff and God is not against us having nice things. God is against us putting nice things ahead of Him, for our benefit. God knows a House built on "stuff" is weak foundation to build on and results in some very dissappointing and unfulfilling circunstances. He's not against us having nice things. He doesn't want nice things to have us. 

REFLECT

Read through today’s words from Jesus again and consider the ways you’ve tried to meet your own needs apart from God. It can be very subtle.  In what ways have these efforts been successful? In what ways have they left you feeling empty?

Confess your deep needs to God. Can you trust Him enough to turn from building your kingdom to building His?

Pray

     Holy Spirit, we’re going to need Your help to see where our lives need remodeling. God, we need Your strength to stay dedicated to the work You’re doing in and through us. Will You come today and refresh our passion. Amen