I have been reading lately, as part of my daily
morning meditation, the Book of the Prophet Haggai; and I would like to ask you
to consider his words and their application for you and me today. But first let
me give you a bit of an introduction.
Around 538 BC, Cyrus, King of the new Medo-Persian Empire, allowed the
Jewish people to return to their home land in Judah which had been completely
devastated by the Babylonians years earlier in at least three separate
campaigns. To get an idea of the state of things in Judah, all we have to do is
read Jeremiah’s Book of Lamentations. The rebuilding of Judah would take two
fronts, the physical rebuilding of the structures (houses, buildings, and the
Temple) and the spiritual rebuilding of a people who had lived in exile for 70
years.
Sixteen years had passed from the time the people came into Judah, but
the Temple for the worship of God was still just at the foundations level while
the people busied themselves building and improving their own homes with
elaborate paneling; and yet their efforts lacked the fruitfulness they sought.
The blessing of God had been lifted from them. Into the midst of this reality,
God raised a prophet by the name of Haggai who would shake them to the core and
point out to them the folly of their efforts. Read these words carefully:
“You
have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You
drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
Human effort without the blessing of God will always amount to very
little because our efforts are very limited even in the best of circumstances
and the best of giftedness or talents. While the smallest of the blessings of
an Almighty God would be always enough to take us to places we cannot reach by
ourselves. God certainly uses our efforts, giftedness, and talents, but He
always adds what we can never achieve on our own. The blessing of Almighty God
involves His favor, His Anointing, and His hand in supporting our dreams and
aspirations. The question for the Jews of Haggai’s time as well as for us today
is an issue of priority because the blessing of God is always somehow tied to
the priority we give Him in our lives. It seems to me that God will never bless
what will never bring Him glory.
"Human effort without the blessing of God will always amount to very little because our efforts are very limited even in the best of circumstances and the best of giftedness or talents."
It
is my opinion that many of us, if not all of us, are always attempting to fit
God in our schedules and needs rather than fitting our schedules into God’s. In
other words and as an example, we pay our bills first (debts we have created
unnecessarily many times, to satisfy ourselves) and then try to pay our tithe
with what is left if anything is left.
We fulfill our agendas first and then give God the time that is
remaining if any is remaining after work and family time. We offer God our
gifts and talents in service only after we are tired and exhausted after a long
week of hard work. Yes, I know all these things are necessary, I agree, even I
need them.
But the priority that our God has in our lives is evident on how we
put Him last rather than first. Then we may wonder why we work so hard, put so
much effort into our days, so much attention into our family life and labors of
all kind and we see little true fruitfulness. Let me ask you to think about
this for a moment; how much time do you put into prayer life each day and into
worship each week? And yet we expect God to bless all our efforts.
What can we learn from the Prophet Haggai? Does God fit into your
schedule or does your schedule fit into God’s?
Let’s Blog!
Fr. Jose+
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