Give careful thought to your ways

Haggai 1:5-7 (NIV)

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."  This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.”

I don’t know much about the prophet Haggai, few Christians do.  Yet, I was intrigued by the emphasis in these verses on “Give careful thought to your ways”.  This is a statement from the Lord Himself so what does He mean by giving careful thought to your ways?

Haggai was a prophet sent by God during the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity that is described in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra (remember---the books in the Old Testament are not in chronological order; if so Job would be placed after Genesis).  One great spiritual lesson about reading of the temple in the Old Testament is that for Christians, the temple of God is actually in each of our hearts.  So the true house of God today is not a church building, but the human heart.  And we know that the human heart always tends to be rebellious and full of deceit (Jer 17:9).


The temple building project in Jerusalem had stopped for 15 years (Ezra 4:24).  Through Haggai, God started telling the people that they were putting their own needs above His.  That’s why the prophet wrote, “Give careful thought to your ways”.  They had planted much, they had eaten much, they had drunk a lot, they had lots of clothes, they had lots of money, but none of these excesses were giving them what they expected. 


Remember the well-known statement of Christ in Matthew 6:33 (Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well)?  If you live your life focused only on yourself rather than on God, all that you do will end up with results that will disappoint you and not be fulfilling.  This is a key principle of spiritual truth---you always have a choice because God created you with that choice but if you choose your own ways rather than His, you will never feel and be fulfilled, you will never be completely satisfied and joyful about your life. 


That’s why Haggai writes-----Give careful thought to your ways!  Do you really believe that you were brought into this world to live your life as you please with no thought about pleased the One who made you?  Yet isn’t this exactly what the large majority of humans who have lived on this earth have done?  How many of them died with perfect peace in their lives?


God wants you to have the things of life that give you enjoyment and pleasure including many material things.  But, He wants you first to give Him priority.  He wants first place in your heart.  He wants you to think of Him and act for Him first rather than ignoring him and doing what you please without Him.

Give careful thought to your ways.  How would you respond to these questions that might help you determine whether or not you are living in His ways or your own:

1.     Do you love others as much as you love yourself?  Are you serving others as much as you serve yourself?

2.     Are you doing what you feel in your heart that God wants you to do?

3.     Is there anything going on in your life right now that you know is being disobedient to His Word? 

4.     Are you being faithful to Him in how you are using the resources He has given to you---time, talent, treasure?

5.     Are you spending sufficient time with God, e.g. do you spend as much time with Him as you do watching TV?

When Haggai wrote “Give careful thought to your ways”, He was stimulating readers to confront their wayward ways, confess their wrongs, and come back to God.  That is what He is doing to you right now.  You do not need to make excuses or otherwise be defensive.  Just do what He says, give careful thought to your ways, and make the appropriate adjustments that likely have to be made to align your life correctly with the Lord again.