Thursday, Aug. 23

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Thursday

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “give careful thought to your ways.”   
- Haggai 1:5

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “give careful thought to your ways”.  - Haggai 1:7

Now give careful thought to this from this day on - consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple.   - Haggai 1:15

From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought              - Haggai 1:18

Four times in these two short chapters, God says to His people - “give careful thought to your ways.”  Some translations say, “consider your ways”.  

Con-sid-er; (v) to think carefully about, contemplate, reflect on, or examine.  

The Hebrew figure of speech for this phrase is literally "put your heart on your paths." Haggai asks God's people to consider what direction their life is headed, and if they really want it to continue that way.  When God’s Word confronts the way we live, we can either resist it by making up more excuses, or we can obey it.  The problem for most of us is that we do not stop often enough to read it and to reflect on the direction of our lives in light of it.  How do we do this?  To put it simply, this means to stop long enough in your busy schedule each day to evaluate your life in the light of God’s Word.  To do what David wrote about in Psalm 119:15, “I meditate on your precepts, and consider your ways.” 

Here are some questions that will help you in this kind of reflection...

1.  How are you spending your time? These people had plenty of time for themselves, but they didn’t have time for God. Rearrange your schedule!

2.  How are you spending your money, which is really God’s money?  These remnant Jews claimed that they had to get their own houses built first, and then they could build God’s house. That was backwards. God says that we are to give Him the first fruits, off the top. We are to give Him the best. We are managers of all that He has given us, to invest it profitably for His kingdom.

3.  What are your goals? What is it that you’re aiming at in life? If you live to an old age, what do you want to look back on as far as accomplishments?

4.  What do you think about the most? What secretly occupies your thought life? Do you dream of getting rich, of achieving fame, of some hobby or leisure pursuit, or do you think about the Lord and how He wants you to spend your life?

5.  Who are your heroes or models? Whom do you most admire? Whom would you like to be like? Why?

6.  Who are your friends? Whom do you like to spend time with? Why do you like to be with them?

7.  How do you spend your leisure time? When you have time off, how do you spend it? Do you watch TV? Do you live for sports? Do you hang out with friends? How does your leisure time reflect and affect your devotion to Jesus Christ?

Speaking only for myself (obviously), the last few months have been a weird whirlwind of craziness. Lots of good work, and overall, a very fruitful season. However, I’ve also found that because there’s been an incredible amount of stress, it’s been completely messing with my priorities (to the degree that I feel a lot of the specifics of Haggai’s rebuke hit a little too close to home).  And it is really not something that is acceptable, especially when I see Jesus’ words in Matt. 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  

Regardless of your season of life, this is the call. We’re not to spend our time busying ourselves with our own houses at the expense of what God requires of us.  We do not seek our own kingdoms, but seek His kingdom first. “All these things”—the stuff of life that you truly need—”will be added to you.”  So let us all stop and think carefully about our ways!

Jeff Frazier