The Book of Haggai

Today's passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=haggai%201-2&version=NIV

It was the beginning of the 6th month of the year and the harvest season was winding down. Yet, God’s people had said that the time had not yet come to rebuild the temple. They were too busy settling into their homes and going on with their daily life. Meanwhile, the house of God, which symbolized God’s presence, lie desolate.

Haggai 1:3-6 says: 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."

It’s like they were just running around in circles going nowhere. They couldn’t get no satisfaction. And there was a reason for that. Their priorities were out of whack and God sent Haggai to call them out on it - Give careful thought to your ways…Evaluate your priorities…Why do you have time to finish your house, but not mine?

As you read the book of Haggai, take a minute to evaluate your own priorities. Where do you spend your time? Your money? Does it ever seem like you don’t have time for God; time to serve Him by serving others; time to worship and pray; time to spend in his word? Are your days a busy blur? Do you jump out of bed and join the human race, running around the track of chores until the end of the day when you fall into bed, exhausted only to realize you haven’t even crossed the finish line. Doesn’t sound very satisfying, does it? But many of us, get swept up in this kind of a race. I often have to scale back on things like Facebook and TV when I realize they are starting to suck up to much time. I encourage you to take inventory of your day. Are there any time suckers that you could eliminate? How much time a day do you spend messing around on your phone? Playing video games? Shopping? Watching sports? Working out? Identify one of these areas and try a 6 week fast. Or you could limit the activity to weekends only or set a daily time limit. Replace that time sucking activity with some time alone with God or look for opportunities to serve Him and build his church. This is where true satisfaction lies!



Today's post submitted by Kelly Coxe