After 70 years of captivity, God graciously allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. In Ezra 3:10, the work began with great joy. Soon afterwards however, the Israelites let adversaries stop the work, and the Temple of God remained barren and desolate. The message God sent through Haggai was: “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5).
They were saying the time wasn’t right to build God’s house (Haggai 1:2), but they were building their houses. They were not just building bare bones shelter either; they were building paneled houses - elaborate, decorated houses (Haggai 1:4). They were willing to put in the effort for themselves, but not for God. They needed to consider their ways.
Are we like the Israelites? Where are our priorities? Are we spending more time on our houses, lawns, and/or cars than we spend on God’s work? Jesus made it known upfront we cannot be His disciples unless we make Him first in our lives (Luke14:25-35). Often we are baptized with great rejoicing and are on fire for God. Soon, however, the worries of life and the desire for our comfort cause that fire to dwindle to nothingness.
It is important we are not just good starters, but good finishers. We need to consider our ways.
- via the weekly bulletin of the Harrisburg Church of Christ in Harrisburg, IL. You may visit their website at http://www.harrisburgchurchofchrist.org
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