How Have You Fared?

Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house. Then the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and you that earn wages earn wages to put them into a bag with holes.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared.

Haggai 1:2-7

The prophets of the Bible did an evaluation after spiritual disasters. They documented the personal, social, and environmental effects of turning away from the one true God. In behalf of a loving God, Haggai urged his neighbors to give careful attention to what had happened. He noted the priority they were giving to their own comforts and wanted them to observe how dissatisfied and empty the still were.

If God didn’t care, He would not ask us to consider the time and effort we are spending on diminishing returns. If He did not love us, He could not remind us of all that He has given us. God sees what has happened to us and knows how much we need to focus on Him today.

When Christ is the center of your interest,

life will be in focus.

Our Daily Bread – September 3, 2008