I have this
one memory of walking out of our basement to the outside. One time when my Mom cut her finger, she
passed out and we ran up and out to my uncle’s house next door for help crying
that she was dead. I asked my Mom if
this was a true memory and she said yes, we did live in the basement of our one
floor house since the main floor was not completed. It’s good to know some of my memories are
true. J
While our
house only took a year or so to build, there was this one house my hubby and I
would see as we drove to my Mom and Dad’s, which seemed to never get done. We wondered if the people only built what
they had money for, or maybe they were building it themselves and only had so
much time. Little by little, over
approx. fifteen years, it was completed.
That’s a lot of patient waiting.
Way back in
the old days, after some of the Jews in captivity were allowed to go back to Jerusalem
to rebuild (in 538bc) the city and temple, the Lord sent a message to His
people. “Consider your ways.” (v.5,7
ESV) See, they had started to build His Temple but then stopped (in 536bc) and
the Temple became a low
priority. They made excuses to not
complete the work. They prioritized
their own wants and needs over God’s.
So says Jehovah of Hosts, saying: This people says,
The time has not come, the time that Jehovah's house should be built. Hg. 1:2
Is it time for
you yourselves to dwell in your finished houses, and shall this House lie
waste? (v.4)
Wow, so God
actually wants us to tend to His things first, before all the tasks we NEED to
complete in our own lives? Really? Is that even possible? I say yes, even if it doesn’t always work out
that way in my own life. We wonder why
the Lord doesn’t bless us in our lives, our jobs, our families, our finances,
etc. but do we truly put God first in everything or do we relegate Him to the
back burners of our lives?
you have sown much and bring in little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink,
but you are not filled with drink; you dress, but no one is warm; and he who
hires out himself hires himself for a bag full of holes. (v.6)
You looked for much, and behold, it came to little.
And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts.
Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with
his own house. Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the
earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land…
(v. 9-11 ESV)
We sow, but
get little back: never satisfied with what we do get, and there is never enough
money as if our purse has holes. We look
for many blessings but get nothing instead.
The heavens withhold them from us and we wonder why. It seems like all of nature is against us and
we live in drought… It sure sounds like
North American Christians. We pray for a
few minutes, for God to bless us, then go on our merry way with our own lives
never stopping to prioritize Him instead of our many tasks we HAVE to get done. We simply have no time for Him…
We need to
obey (v.12) and revere Him, above our own lives, first and foremost. Then we’re likely to hear, “I am with you…” (v.13) Then we’re likely to have His blessings abound
in our lives. “And Jehovah stirred up
the spirit…” of all the people and they came together on God’s prioritized work
(v.14) In 520bc the people started to
rebuild God’s house and it was completed in 515bc. When will we start prioritizing God in our
lives?
...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Lk. 10:27
But seek first the kingdom
of God
Do you not know that you are a temple
of God 3:16
Do we prioritize the work that needs to be done on
God’s current house?
What exactly are the tools we should be using for
this work? The Word, prayer, meditating
on and studying the Word, praise, worship, reverence, repentance,etc...
Who shall go up into the hill of Jehovah? Or who
shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has
not lifted up his soul to vanity, and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from Jehovah,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek
Your face, O God of Jacob. Ps. 24:3-6