Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” (Haggai 1:5-6).

Haggai tells the people that all their efforts had been muted by God because they had neglected the house of the Lord. Even though they planted much, their harvest was small. They ate but not to satisfaction. They drank but less than they wanted. They wore clothes but could not get warm. They earned money but could not keep it. This was all because they prioritized themselves over God. 

Some time ago I was cleaning some fish that I caught from the Gulf. I had a hard time cutting off the fins, head and tail. I thought it was my technique at first. And I also put forth greater effort. Still it was hard. Then, my mother-in-law gave me a different knife. Suddenly, it was easy to cut off the fins, head and tail. You see, I had been using a dull knife, but she gave me a sharp one. It made all the difference.

Friends, I wonder if we are living with dull knives. Do you feel like you are just going through the motions and hardly making any impact in the world? Does it seem like the things you learn do not make a significant difference in your life or in the lives of others? Consider this event in the life of Jesus:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

Mary understood that the most important thing for her to do at that time was to listen to Jesus. It may have not been the most pressing thing, for there were tables to serve and mouths to feed. But Mary did not sacrifice the important for the immediate.

In Haggai's day, tending to their homes was their immediate need, but completing the House of the LORD was the most important priority. If they made the LORD their priority, He would have met their immediate needs (cf. Haggai 2:19b). Is this not what the Lord Jesus meant when He taught His disciples,

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:31-33).

So, my friends, what is most important for us today? Is it not, like Mary, to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to Him? Is it not to reserve our best time for seeking the Lord in His Word and humbly submitting to Him in prayer? Are we allowing our immediate "needs" to overshadow our most important need? If we were to daily listen to Him in this way, do you think our lives might carry greater significance? Do you believe that God will supply all your needs? I can testify that He does. 

Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house liesdesolate?” (Haggai 1:3-4).

Darius was the king of the Persian empire. He was favorable toward the Israelites, who had returned to Canaan after their seventy years of exile. He supported the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, which kept local opposition at bay. Although the Israelites had begun work on the temple, even laying the foundation for it, initial opposition had stopped the work, so that the temple lay unfinished for around ten years. But now that there was no more opposition to rebuilding the temple, the only thing that kept it from being completed was the people's apathy and complacency. It is against this attitude that God sent the prophet Haggai to speak to the people. 

Friends, when things are hard, we ought to seek the Lord more diligently. When things are easy, we ought to engage in His praise more fervently. The point of hardship is to encourage us to hope in the Lord's salvation. The point of ease is to encourage us to rejoice in the Lord's bounty. When we fast, we do so to declare that He is greater than our necessary food. When we feast, we do so to acknowledge the abundance of His grace in providing us good things to eat. So, in everything we praise the Lord and keep Him as the priority of our lives. 

Today, I praise God for the blessings of His salvation, of His Son, who has accomplished it for me on the cross, of His Spirit, who guarantees it in my heart, and of His Word, which declares it and confirms it daily in my walk with Him. I praise Him for the privilege to be a witness for Him, albeit imperfect and severely flawed, to my family, to my church, to the martial arts organization, and to my CC community. I praise Him for the opportunity to enjoy Him in every benefit, whether the delight I have in raising Sophia with my wife, the joy in reading and learning new things, or the enjoyment of financial peace and meaningful pastimes. 

I am reminded that all of these things ought to drive me to have a deeper devotion to Him and to be a more fervent witness for Christ. May the Lord help us all to consider our ways and to reflect on our calling and mission in this life.

"Give careful thought to your ways.... Give careful thought to your ways...... Give careful thought to your ways!" - Haggai 1-2

God says over and over to the post-exilic Israelites through the prophet Haggai to give careful thought to their ways because they stopped their building project to rebuild the temple due to their neighboring peoples' interference. Their fervor to rebuild their lives after they'd come back to the promised land from the exiles slowly died down as time passed and started minding their own business without serving their God. They worked hard, expecting to enjoy the fruit of their hard labor but to no avail! Finally God communicated with them through Haggai, saying "Give careful thought to your ways!" Working hard and sincerely has some value in it, but our purpose for the hard labor and setting up priorities in our lives for the things to which demand our attention are of greater importance. 
Jesus, our Savior, gives us the same injunction today, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you!" May the glory and honor be only to our Lord and Savior, Jesus!

 ‘On that day,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you,’” declares the Lord of hosts (Haggai 2:23).

The expression "on that day" should clue us in that the prophet Haggai was looking far into the future and not simply at the present rule of Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. None of these prophecies (cf. Haggai 2:20-23) happened in Zerubbabel's day. The prophet was looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, even the triumphant second coming of the Messiah. 

Why was Zerubbabel addressed? The Messiah, Jesus Christ, would be a descendant of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel (cf. Matthew 1:12-13). Zerbabbel was named in the same way that David was often named to represent the Messiah to come:

“‘In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty,
    ‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
    no longer will foreigners enslave them.
Instead, they will serve the Lord their God
    and David their king,
    whom I will raise up for them (Jeremiah 30:8-9).

It is this Messiah through whom God would "overthrow the thrones of the kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations" (Haggai 2:22). Psalm 2, a Messianic psalm, declared this truth earlier:

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

But now be strong, Zerubbabel,' declares the Lord. 'Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,' declares the Lord, 'and work. For I am with you,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.' (Haggai 2:4, 5 NIV)

In Ezekiel we got a visual depiction of the LORD leaving the Temple in Jerusalem prior to its destruction by the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar. We understood that God was not leaving because of this foreign invader but because His own people were rebellious and disobedient and had defiled the holy temple with their idolatry and sins.

In Haggai we find the people, who had been exiled for seventy years, now back in Jerusalem. They have returned to debris and desolation. Their first thoughts were right. They built the altar and the temple. But after they faced a bit of discouraging opposition, they ceased work and began turning their attention to their own wants and needs. Sixteen long years pass, and the temple still remained unfinished. Even when the opposition was curtailed, they did not return to the work. They forgot about the core reason for their exile in the first place and only addressed the symptoms. Therefore, Haggai reminded them to put the first thing first. 

And the people obeyed. They resumed work on building the temple, completing the project in just four more years. As they proceeded to do this, God gave them a remarkable promise: "I am with you." He told them, "my Spirit remains among you." What they had feared the most in the destruction of Jerusalem, the holy city, and the temple, was that God had abandoned them. But God had not abandoned them. He was simply punishing them for their years of sinful rebellion. Now, in the words of the prophet, God reaffirmed His covenant faithfulness to them. He had not left them. He would be with them again. 

When they completed the temple, it was nothing spectacular, particularly in comparison to Solomon's temple. It's lack of splendor even moved some of the older ones to tears, who remembered the temple in its former glory. But again, God gave them a greater encouragement. Even though it was unspectacular in appearance, it would, nevertheless, be greater than the former temple:

I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty." (Haggai 2:7, 9 NIV)

Who is this "desire of all nations"? I believe it is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In four hundred years, he would enter this very temple as the incarnate deity ("God in the flesh"). He would make this present house greater than the glory of the former house. He would bring peace as it had never been known before, for he would achieve eternal reconciliation between God and people. He would break down the walls of privilege separating Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave and free. He would bring a peace that passes all understanding, removing every anxious thought and concern for the future.

Friends, we are the recipients of this promise in Haggai through Jesus Christ our Lord. We no longer have any temple in Jerusalem, for the last one was destroyed in A.D. 70; however, we do have Jesus, our risen Lord, and we worship God through Him, not by going to a physical temple but through the spiritual temple that resides in all who believe. Therefore, we don't have to go here or there to worship God. No ground is any more sacred than another. So Jesus would say to the Samaritan woman:

"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." (John 4:21, 23, 24 NIV)

And Paul would also write with respect to the temple.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 NIV)

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV).

Therefore, dear friends, let us worship the LORD right here and right now. Let us worship Him in our homes. Let us worship Him at our work. Let us worship Him as we enjoy our pasttimes, as we recreate, as we labor, as we laugh, as we argue, as we sing, and as we talk. When we speak, let us speak the words of God, and when we serve, let us do it with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything, everywhere, and in every moment God receives the glory. 

We see in today's reading God correcting priority of the Israelites who were too busy building their own houses and taking their household but ignoring the construction of the Temple. In consequence, they labored in vain just as God said,

 "⁶ You have planted much, but 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."

 Christ said the same thing in Matt. 6:33 regarding priorities in our lives,

 "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

 Unlike the Israelites who were bound by the Mosaic covenant, whether we straighten up our priorities or not, we can be successful like Steve Jobs who recently passed AWAY for eternity. Regardless of the expected outcome of our work, we must seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness because we are already taken care of and we will pass ON for eternity even when we leave from the tent of flesh. Brothers and sisters! Are you living in the light of eternity and the truth today?

In Haggai 1:4, we read, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" How many of you get the sense that there is something seriously amiss in the church in America? The question that Haggai asks the Post-Exilic Jews, who have experienced the grace of God's restoration to their land, is a rhetorical question of rebuke. Having experienced God's grace, and living in a time of relative peace, the people lost sight of their mission and began to focus on themselves. The Temple was unfinished, and both it and Jerusalem held only a memory of their former glory.

Today, our banner is for "every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11). This is the work that Jesus left for His disciples to do (cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21:; Acts 1:8). That work is still unfinished even in our day. And the question remains for us, "Is it time for we ourselves to live comfortably while the mission of God is still to be done?!" We have changed the language of Scripture from "must" to "want to." Worship, if you want to. Pray if you want to. Study the Bible if you want to. Witness if you want to. The "want to" lingo is reflective of our times. We live in an age of accomodation, and this poison has entered our churches, so that the strong claims of the Gospel are both watered-down into a kind of mantra, "accept Jesus into your heart," and Christians are allowed to believe whatever they want and to live however they want without accountability or correction. We do this,  many preach, because of "love." We are preaching a love that is foreign to the Scriptures, because biblical love "rejoices in the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6).

Haggai's words were a wake-up call to his generation. May they be a wake-up call again for our generation. What will you do to refocus on the mission of God, for Jesus commanded, "Seek first and foremost to fuflill God's purposes and don't worry about anything else because God will supply your needs" (my paraphrase of Matthew 6:33-34).