Today’s musing comes courtesy of the first chapter of the book of Haggai in the Old Testament. Haggai is writing during the time of the return of the Israeli exiles from Babylon. The Israelites came home to find their country utterly destroyed and began the process of rebuilding.
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’
Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 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.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. 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, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
I don’t usually quote entire chapters of the Bible in this section because I generally don’t have room, but everything here is essential in understanding this passage and understanding how backwards the Israelites had it when they started re-building their country.
It’s easy to understand here why God was upset with Israel. They had come back from exile and started re-building their homes but completely neglected God’s House, the Temple, the center and the heart of their city and focused themselves. They told themselves that the time hadn’t yet come to build the Lord’s house (verse 2). Instead, they spent their money and energy on building expensive paneled homes. The Temple – and God – came last. Their priorities were wrong.
“Give careful thoughts to your ways,” God reminds Israel through Haggai, and listed the ways that things were not working out. They planted, only to harvest little. They ate, but never enough. They drank, but weren’t sated. They were clothed, but it wasn’t warm enough. They earned money, but watched their dollars evaporate. They were getting by, but weren’t being abundantly blessed. Things went out as soon as they came in, all of it an exercise in futility.
“Give careful thoughts to your ways,” God says once again, reminding them that He is in charge of their blessings of home, rain, crops, wine, oil, meat, and work. As long as His house remained a ruin, their blessings would be paltry and insufficient. HE was to be the number one priority and from there all blessings would flow.
Twenty-three days later after hearing God’s message from Haggai, the entire remnant of Israel obeyed and began work on the house of the Lord. “I am with you,” God declared on that day.
I don’t know about you, but I really can relate with the wallet with holes in it. When I read this chapter in Haggai, I realized that I needed to make a priority shift of my own. It’s so easy for all of us to say that we need to take care of ourselves first, to say “the time has not yet come to give to the Lord.” I mean, after all, that’s what the airlines teach us to do in case the oxygen bags come down. “Put yours on first and then help the person next to you.”
We say, “If I pay off my credit card bill and get out of debt, then I can give more to the church.” But that day somehow never comes because, well, water pipes break, our children need an education, and that car breaks down.
We say, “I just don’t have time to serve now, but once this passes, then I will sign up!” But that day somehow never comes because the calendar never seems to open up or any available days are needed for “me-time.”
And we also say, well, you get the idea.
The reality is that order of priority is wrong. We don’t come first. God comes first. From there, everything flows. Putting God first tells Him that we trust Him, tells Him that we trust He’ll provide the rain for our crops, and reminds US that we depend on Him for everything. In trusting God, He will be glorified. In trusting God, He will be the heart of our body and the center of our faith.
“Give careful thought to your ways.”
– Matt
carefulHaggaiLordmoneypursetemplethoughtwalletways
Priority Shift
March 3, 2011
Calvary
Comments Off on Priority Shift
Matt
Today’s musing comes courtesy of the first chapter of the book of Haggai in the Old Testament. Haggai is writing during the time of the return of the Israeli exiles from Babylon. The Israelites came home to find their country utterly destroyed and began the process of rebuilding.
In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest: This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’
Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 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.”
This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.
Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. 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, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.
I don’t usually quote entire chapters of the Bible in this section because I generally don’t have room, but everything here is essential in understanding this passage and understanding how backwards the Israelites had it when they started re-building their country.
It’s easy to understand here why God was upset with Israel. They had come back from exile and started re-building their homes but completely neglected God’s House, the Temple, the center and the heart of their city and focused themselves. They told themselves that the time hadn’t yet come to build the Lord’s house (verse 2). Instead, they spent their money and energy on building expensive paneled homes. The Temple – and God – came last. Their priorities were wrong.
“Give careful thoughts to your ways,” God reminds Israel through Haggai, and listed the ways that things were not working out. They planted, only to harvest little. They ate, but never enough. They drank, but weren’t sated. They were clothed, but it wasn’t warm enough. They earned money, but watched their dollars evaporate. They were getting by, but weren’t being abundantly blessed. Things went out as soon as they came in, all of it an exercise in futility.
“Give careful thoughts to your ways,” God says once again, reminding them that He is in charge of their blessings of home, rain, crops, wine, oil, meat, and work. As long as His house remained a ruin, their blessings would be paltry and insufficient. HE was to be the number one priority and from there all blessings would flow.
Twenty-three days later after hearing God’s message from Haggai, the entire remnant of Israel obeyed and began work on the house of the Lord. “I am with you,” God declared on that day.
I don’t know about you, but I really can relate with the wallet with holes in it. When I read this chapter in Haggai, I realized that I needed to make a priority shift of my own. It’s so easy for all of us to say that we need to take care of ourselves first, to say “the time has not yet come to give to the Lord.” I mean, after all, that’s what the airlines teach us to do in case the oxygen bags come down. “Put yours on first and then help the person next to you.”
We say, “If I pay off my credit card bill and get out of debt, then I can give more to the church.” But that day somehow never comes because, well, water pipes break, our children need an education, and that car breaks down.
We say, “I just don’t have time to serve now, but once this passes, then I will sign up!” But that day somehow never comes because the calendar never seems to open up or any available days are needed for “me-time.”
And we also say, well, you get the idea.
The reality is that order of priority is wrong. We don’t come first. God comes first. From there, everything flows. Putting God first tells Him that we trust Him, tells Him that we trust He’ll provide the rain for our crops, and reminds US that we depend on Him for everything. In trusting God, He will be glorified. In trusting God, He will be the heart of our body and the center of our faith.
“Give careful thought to your ways.”
– Matt
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