By: Rex Stump
Wauseon, Ohio
Ever feel like you have drifted from God? Have you lost your routine in going to church? Has something else replaced your Sunday morning worship? Has your devotional time become nonexistent? Like a New Year’s resolution, has your commitment faded?
Around 536 B.C. God’s people returned from Babylon exile and began to rebuild the Temple of God. It was a great start, but then they stopped building and turned their attention to their own homes.
In the book of Haggai, God’s prophet brings a wake-up call to the people. “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?” (1:4)
The problem was not that God’s people lived in luxurious houses, but that they lived in comfort and luxury while the temple was in ruins. The problem was simply wrong priorities.
It is easy to see how this happened over 14 years. At first, the work stopped because it was so difficult and some obstacles in the construction prevented progress. They stopped, got out of the routine…and never got back.
We see the same thing today when it comes to worship of God. We get distracted, we stop going to church, Bible studies, Huddles, we make excuses…next thing you know we’ve drifted in our worship of God and possibly worse, our relationship with God.
If our priorities are wrong, nothing will satisfy us. With every accomplishment, we discover there must be something more, something that can really satisfy. Nothing fills the God-shaped void in our lives except putting Him first.
The prophet Haggai was like an alarm clock: unwelcome but necessary. Sometimes God gives us a wake-up call. We may not like it, but we need it.
So, God calls them back, just like He calls us to work. Yes, God can accomplish anything He wants, but He chooses to work through us!
William Carey once said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” The world doesn’t prioritize faith, nor does it listen to God’s command, “You shall have no other gods before me.”
This is why the Apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” If you were living in Haggai’s time period, would you be one who had wrong priorities and needed a wake-up call?
How did the people respond? They trusted God and obeyed Him. God gives us the ability to do the right thing! He still does today!
“Stay strong, stay focused…stay faithful!”
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Rex Stump is the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a Pastor at True North Church in Wauseon, Ohio.
