Thought for February 17

 History:

• 1621: Miles Standish elected first commander of Plymouth Colony
• 1791: John Wesley becomes ill--will die on March 2
• 1801: House of Representatives breaks Electoral College tie and elects Thomas Jefferson President
• 1815: Treaty of Ghent signed ending the War of 1812
• 1976: Sardines first canned
• 1897: Organization of Mothers forms [PTA]
• 1904: Puccini's "Madam Butterfly" premiers
• 1933: First issue of "Newsweek"
• 1936: First superhero appears in comics--"The Phantom"
• 1958: Comic strip "BC" first published
• 1967: Beatles release "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields"
• 2008: Furious that his wife has become a Christian, husband hires Home Guard in Sri Lanka to attack and kill Pastor Neil Edirisinghe--his wife and 2-year old son are also injured
• 2014: Jimmy Fallon premiers on the "Tonight Show"
• 2014: Davis and White win their first of six U.S. Championships in Ice Dancing--also won Olympic Gold
• Born: Montgomery Ward, Red Barber, John "Praying" Hyde [missionary to India], Margaret Truman, Hal Holbrook, Jim Brown, Gene Pitney ["Town without Pity"], Rene Russo, Michael Jordan, Denise Richards, Paris Hilton, Ed Sheeran, 
• Died: Rev. James Renwick [hanged in Scotland for being a Presbyterian], Christopher Sholes [invented QWERTY keyboard], Geronimo, Mindy McCready, Mickey Wright

Thought:

I am sure that the Book of Haggai is favorite book for many of you and that you have read it many times. Well, I admit it is not my favorite and I have not read it as much as I should. Today and tomorrow let's see what God may say to us from this little book. Haggai is a contemporary of Ezra writing about 520 BC. The people have returned from Babylon following Cyrus' decree in 538. About 50,000 have returned to Jerusalem; they build the altar, read the Law and reestablish the Feast of Booths [Ezra 3]. They start building the Temple around 536, but stop when letters are written to the king claiming they are building a wall and joining Egypt in rebellion. In 521, Darius becomes the Persian ruler. He agrees to let the Temple construction resume, but the people are not motivated, so God sends Haggai and Zechariah to preach to the people. 

Today, I am struck by four times that God says to the people "consider." There is a connection between our ways, God's disciple and God's blessing.

• 1:5--Consider your ways. Here is a reminder to the people. God sent you back from captivity in Babylon to rebuild His Temple. You have been here 16 years. You have built houses for yourselves, but the Lord's Temple lies desolate. [1:2-4] Consider your ways. To Larry this says, Larry do you give priority to your stuff or to God's calling? Are you too busy with your life to complete the assignment God gave to you? Are your time, talents and gifts applied to your selfish projects or are you using them for God's glory? I recall a sermon from 1974 called "Someday Sunday." The pastor at First Baptist Wichita Falls talked about all the things we said we would do someday for the Lord. Then he said, today is someday Sunday. Do them today.
• 1:7--Consider your ways. Have you noticed what your delay in giving God priority has a cost? [1:6-8] You sow a lot, but reap a little. You eat and drink but are not satisfied. You have clothes, but you are not warm; and your pocket has a hole in it. When you are giving priority to you wants and needs, nothing satisfies. You work hard, but reap little, and what you do reap seems to disappear. Does that sound familiar. Got stuff, but unsatisfied. This reminds me that I should seek first His kingdom. 
• 2:15--Consider God's discipline. Why are we unsatisfied? Read 2:10-17. God tells a story or gives a parable for the priests. Is holiness catching? [That's southern talk] If something holy touches something unholy, does the unholy become holy--No. If something is unclean and touches something that is clean does that become unclean--Yes. Your unholy lives make your sacrifices unholy. So blessings have been withheld. Here God reminds me that all the sacrifices in the world do not make up for disobedience. The scripture is clear--obedience before sacrifice. 
• 2:18--Consider God's blessings. Now that you are obedient and are building God's Temple, you will be blessed. God is faithful to His promise. I am always asking God to bless me by hearing and answering my prayers. God responds to obedience with blessing. 

God has told me to build a Temple--a dwelling place for His Holy Spirit in my body And He asks me to consider my ways--am I building on the cornerstone, the firm foundation? Am I maturing into the likeness of Christ. If I will give priority to building His Temple, blessings will flow and I will be satisfied. In the New Testament, we read, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added." Same message Haggai brought in 520 BC. 

Blessings

Larry