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Give Careful Thought to Your Ways
John Danganan5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but 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 purse with holes in it." (Haggai 1:5-7)
The central ministry of the prophet Haggai was to rebuild the temple. Nineteen years after the initial construction of the temple in 539 B.C. temple construction stopped because the people built their own homes and worked on their own farms. In a series of four "oracles" or "words" to the people God commands them to give careful thought to their ways. The people are to pause. They are to think deeply and consider thoughtfully the futility of their ways--they have exerted maximum effort at minimal gain. The people have toiled and labored with very little return because they have built their own house first and neglected to build the house of God at all. In essence, they sought to build their own kingdom and not the kingdom of God. When God's covenant people don't live out their covenant the consequence of drought and poor harvest is naturally imposed on them. The importance of the temple cannot be overstated because it is the primary dwelling of the presence of God and it was also the central gathering of worship and sacrifice for the people of God. When there is no worship, there is no rest.
