Thursday, December 26, 2019

Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?

Haggai   1:1-15
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 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.”
Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God.
Four times Haggai comes to the people with a message from God. The message are precisely dated and were all given within a 15-week period.
1:2-15: life is hard, with food and clothing in short supply, and prices soaring. Why? Because people have their priorities wrong. They are all wrapped up in their own selfish concerns. God is neglected. And so the very things they work for evade them. For all the good things of life are  God's to give or withhold. Haggie's words strike home to the nations' conscience. Within three weeks, work on the Temple is resumed.
Why?
God sent the message through the prophet Haggai reminded people of Israel they have planted much, but harvested little, for the put their heart on their selfish harvest but neglected the ruin of the Temple.
So I have to turn back from the world but focus on the need of the Lord, the service in the church. My church needs me to serve.
How?
Do my best to God's Temple, the church in Taipei, I am living place.



No comments: