Monday May 17th, 2021
Memorize: Haggai 1:4 Good News Translations (GNT)
« My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins? »
Read: Haggai 1:1-10 New Living Translations (NLT)
1 On the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”
3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai:
4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?”
5 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Look at what’s happening to you!
6 You have planted much but harvest little.
You eat but are not satisfied.
You drink but are still thirsty.
You put on clothes but cannot keep warm.
Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!”
7 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you!
8 “Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house.
Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.
9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor.
And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away.
Why?
Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.
10 It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops.
Message:
There are certain kinds of offences that the head of a corporate organisation would not bother to address personally.
However, there are also some other kinds of offences that would have to be addressed personally by the head of the organisation.
This is similar to what happens in Heaven. All sins are evil, but there are certain sins which God may send an angel to punish the sinner, while there are some others that He addresses personally.
One of such sins is leaving the house of God uncompleted.
God will fight anyone who leaves His house uncompleted by ensuring that any money such a fellow makes goes into a pocket with holes. Haggai 1:4-7 GNT says:
4 “My people, why should you be living in well-built houses while my Temple lies in ruins?
5 Don’t you see what is happening to you?
6 You have planted much grain, but have harvested very little.
You have food to eat, but not enough to make you full.
You have wine to drink, but not enough to get drunk on!
You have clothing, but not enough to keep you warm.
And workers cannot earn enough to live on.
7 Can’t you see why this has happened?
Could it be that the reason you’ve been unable to do much with your income is that you don’t care to contribute to the completion of your local Church building?
Today, God is saying “Consider your ways”.
I don’t like it when I see God’s building project uncompleted, especially when I have the resources that can help complete it.
I have discovered that in return, God has given me houses that I did not build and cars that I did not buy, including those I cannot afford.
One of my sons heard that we were building an auditorium in The RCCG and immediately sent me a huge sum of money in Naira. Within days, he got the same amount of money he had contributed, but in dollars.
When you join in completing God’s building project, He will thank you wondrously, but when you ignore it, you may attract His wrath as it is recorded in our Bible reading today.
Never miss an opportunity to build for God.
Action point: If you have resources that can help to complete a church building project, contribute to it today. God will certainly reward you handsomely for it.
Author: Pst E. A Adeboye
Text edited by Naomie
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