Making the Right Investment
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Making the Right Investment
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house – the Temple.’” So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 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. 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 Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses. That is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills – a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olives and all your other crops, a drought to starve both you and your cattle and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.” Haggai 1:2-11 (NLT)
In the past year or so we have been inundated with reports of economic crisis. We have had words such as; deep recession, depression, total economic collapse, catastrophe, etc fill the media outlets of cable news programs, internet and newspapers. It has successfully eroded any confidence one may have in the financial system of our nation or the world. Once more, the church has fallen victim to this epidemic of fear that has crossed the world. But one has to ask the question why? After all, aren’t the promises of God “yes and amen?” Doesn’t God have a different economy system? Hasn’t God said, “We are the head not the tail, we are on top and not beneath?” So what is the problem with the church? Why is the church staggering with the same intoxication of fear as the world? I know for many in the body of Christ these questions plague their faith as they try to rationalize the reality of their present circumstances to the spoken promises of God’s word. But could it be that in history God already spoke and addressed the centralized issue that has resulted in our afflicted and weakened state?
Let’s take a deeper look at Haggai 1. The first verse says, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house – the Temple.” The Lord was bringing to light the condition of His people’s heart. They had become so preoccupied with their own welfare that the priority of His house was replaced with the priorities of their own. They fell prey to the deception that once they had taken care of their business then they could take care of God’s business. The condition of God’s house was a condition of desolation. It was abandoned and in ruins. There was no service coming from His temple and no place where He could demonstrate His glory to the nations.
God presents a fascinating challenge to His people in the following verses “Consider how things are going for you! You have planted much but harvested little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink, but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you!” God was making a direct correlation between the present condition of His people and the present condition of His house.
Now let us consider the condition of His house today. Is it a house abandoned by His people? Has it simply become a shell of idle worship where lips offer service, but hearts are far from Him? Have we become more preoccupied with maintaining our lifestyles than we are building His house? Are we more consumed with frivolous activities of pleasure than taking pleasure in the advancement of His glory in the earth? Once we submit to a genuine evaluation of our hearts concerning our role or lack thereof in building His house; let’s consider our present condition as His people. Are we over extended in time and money? Do we find ourselves working so hard yet barely making enough to keep food on the table or clothes on our backs or a roof over our heads? Does what you earn seem to disappear even before you have received it? Now for the question that cuts to the very core of each of our hearts. Is our current condition a reflection of our misplacing the priority of His house for our own?
Jesus said, “do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” In other words If we make His Kingdom our priority He will make us His priority.
It’s time that we get serious about building the house of God! It’s time that we quit making excuses as to why we can’t attend church on Sunday’s or small groups, bible studies during the week. It’s time that we become obedient to the Lord in our giving of tithes and offerings. Why must the house of God be a symbol of lack and need when it should be the reservoir of abundance and overflow? Maybe we need to consider once again what God said in Deuteronomy “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…”
Let us learn again to invest our time, treasure, talents, touch and testimonies into the Kingdom of God where our increase and multiplication is sure rather than the system of this world. Remember Hebrews 12:26-28 “And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe…”
Blessings,
By Pastor Jonathan Sansom