MESSAGES
Demands of Commitment-Part III
From Egypt to the Promised Land
Overcoming Obstacles part - II
Overcoming Obstacles Part -III
Receiving the Promises of God -I
Receiving the Promises of God - II
Reformation: Going Beyond the Obvious
Well Done is Better Than Well Said
When the Church is Gone - Part II
When the Church is Gone - Part III
When the Church is Gone - Part IV
|
CONSIDER YOUR WAYS HAGGAI 1:1-11 Matthew Here in the first chapter of Haggai, God challenges Verse 2-4 The people
here seem to have a spirit of procrastination. There lack of activity on the temple may have
initially been due to the discouragement caused by Samaritan persecution. They had tried to build the temple and ran into
some opposition. However,
the same opposition was there when they were trying to build there
own homes, but they pressed through it and were able to overcome
it. We know this because verse 4 says that they
are living in ceiled houses while God’s house lay in waste. When every the topic of working on the temple
came up the people would reply “it’s not time yet.” God had become frustrated and wanted to know
why it was not time to build his house if they were already living
in houses. The people are procrastinating.
The truth
of the matter is that the same persistent that was used to get
their own houses built would have successfully gotten the temple
built. When we are doing something that we want to
do, we find a way to get it done.
It is only when we are doing something that we are not
that interested in doing that we drawback and procrastinate about
getting it done. We tend to be persistent when it is something
we want and apathetic and procrastinating when it is not a priority
for us. You see for a while
in there, even though the people had not rebuilt the house of
God, God was still blessing them and so they saw no need to rush.
They were just going to kick back for a while and rest. But they had been kicked back for 16 years and
it did not appear that they were about to move. They had a task, assigned by God for them to
do and they not only were making no efforts to complete the task,
they were not even considering the task.
I want you to consider the question today, “Am I procrastinating
on God?” “Is there something that God has assigned
for me to do or asked me to do that I have put off doing?” Maybe I put off doing it because it appears
to be too hard. Maybe I
put off doing it because I don’t really
want to do it. Maybe I
put off doing it because it does not fit in my plans yet.
Whatever the reason you are using, unless God told you
to wait, then you are simply rebelling or procrastinating.
In Exodus 22:29 God told the Children of Israel in regards
to making sacrifices to Him that they should not delay in doing
that which was required. Unless
we have permission from God, we should never delay in following
His instructions. Consider your ways when instructed by God to
complete a task. JOSHUA 18:3-6 Even here when it was
time to receive a blessing from God, the people were procrastinating. You see they wanted the blessing without the
work required to get it. Joshua asked why some of the tribes were putting
off the job of possessing the land. Often we delay doing jobs
that seem large, difficult, boring, or disagreeable. But to continue
putting them off shows lack of discipline, poor stewardship of
time, and, in some cases, disobedience to God. Jobs we don’t
enjoy require concentration, teamwork, twice as much time, lots
of encouragement, and accountability. Blessings rarely come with
work either to get them or to maintain them. When God assigns
a task, don’t procrastinate because in doing so you may miss
your blessing. Consider your ways. Are you walking through doors that God has opened
for you or are you standing back waiting on him to carry you through? ACTS 24:24-25 One
blessing will certainly be missed out on by procrastinating is
Salvation. Felix wanted Paul to return later, not because
he did not believe what Paul was saying, but because he was not
ready to act on Paul’s words.
I am not ready yet, which is the same as saying this is
an inconvenient time is nothing but a sinners excuse for procrastinating
on committing his life to God. But be sure, just as procrastination for the
believer may land him in big trouble with God, so continued procrastination
for the sinner will land him in a place of eternal destruction.
HAGGAI 1:5-11 Throughout the Book of Deuteronomy Moses warned the people not
to provoke God and in Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy he told the people
of all the curses that would come on them if they refused to obey
God. In verses 5-11 we see the manifested results
of provoking God. There
refusal to see to God’s needs first had left them in a state
of need. They had planted lots of seeds only to reap
a meager harvest. Their
simplest necessities of life – food, drink and clothing were
not being met. Working harder was getting them nowhere. They were watching their money disappear as
if they were dropping their money in a bag with holes in the bottom. All their efforts at farming and wage earning
got them nowhere because they had failed to put God first. The description of their condition probably
sounds and feels very real to many of us.
If it sounds or feels familiar to you I want to urge you
to consider your ways. Stop
and take some time to evaluate where you are with God.
Check to see if God has made a request of you that you
are delaying in honoring. After
getting them to understand that he had a hand in their present
condition, God told them to go to the mountains to get needed
supplies and return and build his house.
God had become so frustrated with them that he said he
blew on it, indicating that he caused it to leave like any powered
substance in a strong wind. The
condition of HEBREWS 3:7-8 The
Children of Israel had a habit of provoking God. When it was time to go into the Promised Land
they provoked God so badly that he made them wonder around in
the wilderness for 40 years until almost everyone in that generation
died out. They forfeited their blessing by provoking God.
Consider your ways. Are you provoking God by not attempting to work
on a task that he has assigned to you?
Verse 7 says “today if you will hear his voice, don’t
provoke him by hardening your heart as HAGGAI 2:15-19 God asked them to consider their economic state before they
started working on the temple.
The curse was so bad on them that where they would have
brought in 20 measures of grain they now harvested only 10.
And where their grapes would normally produce 50 vessels
of wine they were now only making 20 vessels of wine.
In verse 17 God names 3 punishments, blastings,
mildew and hail, that he had allowed to come to them. All three of these were thought of as typical
forms of divine correction in ancient Verse 18-19 The
prophet now urges them to consider there economic condition beginning
at the day when they turned back to God and again began to rebuild
the temple. There was no seed or fruit yet in the barns
or on the trees because the year’s crops had already been
lost. But God promised to bless them from the day
that started to rebuild the foundation and forward. Note that God’s blessing returned to their
live when they began working on the temple, not when they finished
it. Their faithful obedience in continuing to rebuild
would enable them to continue to experience God’s blessings. Consider your ways. If
there is something that you know God has asked you to do or an
activity or sin that he has instructed you to give up and you
have not acted on God’s request of you, then if it is not
already hindering your blessings know that it soon will be.
Some of us are even now saying “I would complete the
task if I knew how or if I knew what to do.” Be careful that you are not just procrastinating
and offering God excuses. 2 Corinthians 8:12 If we approach the task with a willing heart
or mind God will consider that we are doing the best we can. In I Cor. Isaiah 1:19-20 – willing and obedient Consider your ways. If God has asked you to do something which you are not actively
working on doing then you are not seeking God and his kingdom
first. |