Haggai 1:5-9 – 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. (NIV 1984)
My Musings – While the context suggests that the remnant that had returned from captivity were preoccupied with rebuilding their lives to the neglect of rebuilding God’s Temple, there is much we can learn from the prophet’s rebuke. There is much we need to give careful thought to.
We spend much of our lives trying to make a living (planted much), but end up disappointed because in the process we failed to make a life (harvested little). For making a living and making a life are two different things. The things we ran after, the things that we thought would bring us satisfaction (eating, drinking, nice clothes, good wages), in the end bring disappointment (never enough, never filling, do not bring comfort/warmth, and do not last). We bring them “home” but they are blown away. We need to refocus on the things that do last (His “house”).
My Advice – Do not be so busy attending to our “house” that we neglect His “house,” His Kingdom, and His righteousness. Sometimes we find it hard to let go of the old “house.” But we need to learn to hold loosely the things of this world in order to get a grip on the things of the Kingdom.
What are some things that you are holding onto that might be keeping God’s “house” in your life from being built into the glory that He intends? What are some things you can do to “let them go?” You might expect little, but you will receive much.
The Brew Is A Musing 