Bread From Heaven

Consider Your Ways

Let's read Haggai 1:1-11.

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.
3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.
9 Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

I especially want to focus on verses five and seven of this text. It is a repeated phrase. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” Usually, when something is repeated, it is important. God is appealing to his people to consider their ways. The other verses mostly talk about when you should consider them.

I believe when he is saying to consider your ways, he is saying that there may be a good reason for what you are currently experiencing in your life. There may be a bad habit or behavior that needs changing. Is there a reason for your current situation? Are you following God's will for your life? Are you making wise choices? What actions are you taking that may have caused this particular event in your life? What are you thinking? Is your attitude right? Do you have the correct motives for what you are doing and the way you are doing it? Is it harmful to yourself or others?

Look at verse six and the thoughts presented in that verse. Do you sew a lot and bring in little? Do you have food to eat, but don't feel like it is enough? Do you drink, but aren’t satisfied? Do you have clothes, but not enough to keep you warm? As the old saying goes, “Do you have holes in your pockets”? If any of these apply to you, it is time to examine yourself and consider your ways.

Verse nine asks another question, and the rest of the passage continues to give the reason for the issues in this particular scenario. Have you looked for much and it came too little? Is there a drought? Is the labor of your hands not being blessed? Consider your ways.

In this specific incident, the children of Israel had not rebuilt the Temple of God. They had gone to live in their own houses, and left the house of God in desolation. He refused to bless them because they did not put God first in their hearts.

I wrote a poem inspired from these verses. They really spoke to me. I hope you are blessed by them too.

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Consider Your Ways  (E) Poem based off Haggai 1:1-11 #2242928 by Marvelous Friend

Jesus is my permanent anchor!