Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—December 2024

East Tallassee Church of Christ

December 16, Haggai 1

Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. - Haggai 1:5

Do you have any unfinished tasks on your to-do list? It might be something at home or at work that for some reason you just have not completed. I know I have several such unfinished tasks that come to mind, and I suspect you do, too.

When the exiled Jews returned to Palestine from Babylon, one of their first jobs was to rebuild the temple. They started to work, but for some reason they stopped before they finished the project. God sent Haggai and Zechariah with messages to encourage and motivate the returned Jews and their leaders to get back to work and do what they were supposed to do.

The Jews offered an excuse for their inactivity that is still popular today: "The time has not yet come,“ they claimed, to do what God sent them home to do. God's reply showed the worthlessness of that excuse: "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruin?" I'm sure life was not easy for the returnees when they arrived back in their homeland that had been reduced to rubble and wilderness. However, they somehow found time to work on their own houses, and to make them both functional and ornate. But they said it wasn't yet time to rebuild the house of the LORD.

God's three word prescription to them was the twice-repeated admonition to "Consider your ways." The first "Consider" looked back. It was a review of what they had done (or failed to do), and the disappointing results that came from that. The second "Consider” looked ahead to what they should do and what the very final outcome of that would be.

Why did the rebuilding project stall once it started? We could suggest some possible reasons out of our own experiences, couldn't we? Perhaps they were overwhelmed by the task and discouraged by the slow progress and the difficult circumstances. Maybe the cruel force of Resistance set in, stopped the work and gave them excuses for procrastination. But the text itself suggests they had arranged their priorities in the wrong order. They were building, but they were building their own fine houses instead of rebuilding the temple. God was not homeless; he didn't need them to build his house. But they needed it to be reminded of his presence and power among them.

They had little to show for their misguided efforts. When they neglected the work God gave them to do, their efforts to do other things were not successful. They had meager harvests. They ate, but were still hungry. God told them they were putting their wages into a bag with holes. God sent a drought as a disciplinary measure to get their attention and call them back to him and his will for their lives and their work.

In a rare moment among the prophets' experiences, these people listened to Haggai, changed their ways and got back to doing what God wanted them to do. Over and over, more than two dozen times in this short book of two chapters, Haggai reminded them that the words he spoke were the words of God himself. Haggai called himself "the messenger of the LORD.” The Scriptures use that phrase about Moses, John the Baptist and Jesus himself. Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, delivered the Lord's message to the repentant people. He assured them of God's presence with them and his blessings on their work. As empty and unsatisfying as their misdirected work had been, when they put their trust in God’s presence among them, they found new confidence and commitment to get the job done. God is pleased and glorified when his people obey him. Whatever we're doing, we're off task when it doesn't please God and glorify him, regardless of who else likes it or gets credit for it. It is one thing to quit or procrastinate about some project or task in ordinary matters. But it is a very different and far more serious thing to quit doing God's work after we start, and to allow misplaced priorities to keep us from doing what God wants us to do. We can do our work with the same assurance of God's blessings and presence with us that Haggai communicated to the rebuilders. God rewards us for doing what he calls us to do. Other people are blessed and God is glorified when his people honor and obey him. As servants of Jesus, you and I should take to heart Haggai's admonition to "Consider your ways."

Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.