Follow The Way

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'” (John 14:6)

Haggi 1: 1- 15

1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggaito Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshuason of Jozadak, the high priest:

² This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

³ Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

⁵ 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 a purse with holes in it.”

⁷ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁸ Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

¹² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

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Sitting quietly listening to my mind bounce from one task to another, I say, “Not now, Lord”. My expectations for the day are mighty. The drone of mummers from past ‘to dos’ and unmet obligations linger. The world defines the success of a person by the amount one accomplishes in a day, week, month. Yet, I push on with this need to work when God says, “Rest in me”.

² This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’”

The people of Jerusalem were given the task of freely rebuilding the holy temple once again after its destruction. An honor and a task that would allow to worship God. Maybe too much for them since the Lord heard they were not ready to begin.

Was it the fact that they weren’t ready for this undertaking? Was it that they couldn’t begin to know how to make it worthy of God’s greatness? Did they lack the talent or supplies? Or was it that life had other plans for their time? Something made them believe now was not the moment to begin work.

Worldly pressure contains our faith in the darkest recesses of our personal foundations. It cries out for more and more. It won’t allow anything else to garner our time. Desperately begging for attention.

Our Lord whispers quietly from below, “I am here.” But, we follow in our ancestor’s foot steps and say, “Not, now Lord. I have so much to do and accomplish for the day.”

Just like the early Jews given the freedom to rebuild God’s temple, they failed to see that this wasn’t a lesser ‘to do’. This was His calling.

³ Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:⁴ “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”

What choice did they make? They chose to work on rebuilding their own homes now that the work on the temple was wrought with controversy and other factors in their society started to beg for attention like the economy and their livelihoods. Each family probably felt it would be easier to work on themselves then bring back their faith to the faithless. Apathy and frustration surely reigned.

The Lord asked a very pointed question, which can be asked today, “You have time and money to decorate and rehab and build up your own lives, but you leave my house in disrepair?”

When do we give our time and efforts to Him?

⁵ 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 a purse with holes in it.”

As the Lord states, “Give careful thought to your ways”, we are left with a reprimand of sorts. He gently, yet sternly calls us each out to examine our priorities. What are our “ways”? Is it the boundless need for acceptance and status in the world that drives our priorities? Is it out of guilt and selfish desires? Is it the longing for happiness and accomplishment? At the end of the day can you say, “It is well with my soul?”

We planted in the way of busyness yet do we really reap completion? Most days we can feel as if no matter what we have worked to produce, the actual outcome never satisfies. As we go off and consume food or material objects, the shadow of something newer and better haunts our future moments. Drink and still thirst. Clothe and still shiver. Earn money for all of this, but seem to not have enough left to sustain our lifestyle.

This is the world today and has been the world since the beginning. It points to the opposite way of our Lord.

⁷ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁸ Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

The Lord gives directives to His followers. He orders them to do the task of rebuilding, so that he may take pleasure and feel honored by their work. Added to this, a reminder that the way of life they have chosen has led to unfortunate circumstances brought on by selfish desires.

How do we respond to this early Pre-Messiah prophecy? When we chose to follow the way of the world, we deny God’s will. Outcomes to this self-centered path will always lead to our own demise. In early Jerusalem the Jews were being blessed and punished by God. Once Jesus fulfilled the prophesy of the Messiah, we are now given grace to forgive these sins. Even though forgiven, we still pay the consequences of not following God’s will. Not a punishment, but a byproduct of a brokenness that harbors evil.

So, where do we start? We start with listening, then praying, and then acting.

¹² Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

¹³ Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. ¹⁴ So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God,¹⁵ on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

The high priests and the prophet Haggai, through the spirit of the Lord turned these God fearing believers back on the right path. They were stirred enough to change their ways, to push through the doubts, to ignore their human desires and understand that the Lord Almighty, their God deserves respect, honor, and heart filled worship. Not out of what they will receive, but from what they have already been given. The freedom that comes with being loved so much that wanting and needing more is no longer necessary. He will provide when we submit to His will and follow His way.

Revelation 15:3

³ and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.

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