MONDAY, 11 January, 2021 “Priorities”

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends, as we begin a new week together.

I invite us to pause a few seconds and compare…this Monday, January 11, to one week ago, January 4 and consider all that has happened in only one week in our world! In the UK, as they adjust to Brexit and their first level 5 lockdown in response to the new COVID variant, and how is that affecting all of Europe? In America, as the politics of the last few days continue to ripple out in impact around the world.

We live at a time in history when things are changing very rapidly all around our world, and because of how closely connected our world is, a significant event in one place can impact the whole world in a matter of hours, even minutes… and the impact can last generations. Isn’t that true?

Yesterday we heard God say to us, as He did through the prophet Haggai to 50,000 Jewish exiles who had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild their city and Temple… “Give careful thought to your ways.” (Haggai 1:5&7). And when we do that, what do we see in ourselves? “Ways” means how we think, how we make decisions, how we communicate, how we respond to disappointment or difficulty, how we plan and work to accomplish our plans, how we relate to each other and most of all, how we relate to God!

Mr. Haggai, we presume, had been born in Babylon, in captivity. From his childhood he likely would have been repeatedly told by his parents that he was not Babylonian, nor Persian, but he was Jewish, a unique people of God living in exile because of their abandonment of God. It appears Haggai pursued a significant relationship with God which enabled him to become a man through whom God could speak His great truths to His people. God raises up people like that in almost every generation. Have you known some?

Haggai likely returned to Jerusalem with, or soon after, that initial huge wave of 50,000 exiles, (Ezra 1) and he watched the enthusiasm to rebuild the temple dwindle, and in response to political pressure, the temple work actually came to a stop, with only the foundation laid. I imagine Haggai visited the temple hilltop often, amazed that as busy life continued all around the Jerusalem rebuild, the Temple mount was ignored. Years passed, and finally God convicted Haggai with a strong message which he gave to the people in August of 520bc. We find it in Haggai chapter 1.

“Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough…You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it…” (Haggai 1:6) Think back over 2020… do these words seem to summarize the year we just had almost everywhere in our world? Did leaders and millions of people scurry about frantically trying to adjust to or stay ahead of the sweeping devastation of COVID, only to see almost 90 million cases and almost 2 million deaths worldwide? Yet still, even with new, rapidly spreading variants of COVID, how many voices do you hear calling us to God, to seek God’s answers, God’s help? Do you see how similar our situation is to Haggai’s day?

So God said through Haggai: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘You expected much, but see, it has turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD. Because of My house, which remains a ruin while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore…I have called for a drought on your fields…” (Haggai 1:7-11) As hundreds of millions of doses of the COVID vaccines are being globally distributed and millions of people are being immunized, do you hear a global sigh of relief and growing expectation that soon this man made vaccination will defeat the terrible viruses and life can begin to return to normal? What normal? The normal in every part of the world of building economies, pursuing pleasure, and becoming societies of success who can proudly say they have no need of God, no interest in God and they can build a future without God. Isn’t that the normal of our world?

Do you see THAT is exactly what was happening in Haggai’s time, and do you see God’s response? A drought is a dreadful thing. While human scientists can do many things, they cannot create rain or dew and without water, crops wither, animals die of starvation, and people go hungry. So if our world continues on our present course, with our present priorities, ignoring God even in the face of a global pandemic, what do you expect God might do in our day? If the COVID pandemic has not awakened a world-wide seeking for God, are these new variants of the disease simply genetic mutations or is God calling to humanity once again, despite the excitement over vaccines?

Notice please what the response was to Mr. Haggai’s dreadful but truthful message from God. “Then Zerubbabel… Joshua… and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because they realized the LORD had sent him.“ (Haggai 1:12) Do you see a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of priorities here my friends? Do you see the people recognized Mr. Haggai’s message was not simply his personal frustration at the temple construction being idle, oh no, Haggai’s words were a message direct from God to them!

Do you agree, before we can expect a change in our society, a change in actions…there must be a change in the heart and mind! That’s why Psalm 139:23,24 are so important for us right now: “Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me…” That’s what was happening in the people to whom Haggai spoke, and this is exactly what needs to happen all around our world, in you and me, in leaders, in educators, in politicians, in those leading the COVID vaccine charge…everywhere, everyone, starting with you and me!

In closing, God always responds to a tender, repentant heart, did you know that? Look at what happened next in Haggai 1:13 “Then Haggai gave this message of the LORD to the people: ‘I am with you, declares the LORD.” Only a few words, but oh what a difference those words made to discouraged people! Do you see what happened? “So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel…and the spirit of Joshua…and the spirit of the whole remnant of people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty their God on the 24th day of the sixth month.” (Haggai 1:14,15) God saw the change of their hearts and He responded with a great move of His Holy Spirit which gave them courage and boldness and passion once again, and they joined together in resuming the work of rebuilding the great temple of God!

By the way, Haggai likes to give us dates, did you notice that? The people resumed the work 23 days after they heard Haggai’s first words! Now what might God do in the next three weeks if you and I and a great many of God’s people around the world did the same? What if we pursued God, we invited God to search our hearts, and we re-prioritized our lives, with Jesus as most important and we followed Jesus, engaging whatever He put before us to do, for His glory and accomplishment of God’s purpose!?

Here’s a short one minute song of reflection that helps us as we invite God to search our hearts:

Today’s Scripture is Haggai 1.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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