The words of the prophet Haggai exposed a problem: "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. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways." (Haggai 1:6-7)

The people worked hard and spared no effort to insure prosperity. But, their yield was more than disappointing. They had clothing, but no amount of clothing they owned could keep them warm. In fact, nothing seemed to be sufficient to them – food, drink, or clothing. They had money but it fell through their hands like holes in their bags. Why? God was forgotten and when God is forgotten, all is futile, without profit, and in vain.

Doesn't this sound familiar? It could have been written today rather than hundreds of years before the advent of Christ.

We are never satisfied. We're more concerned about tangible riches than we are about spiritual riches. We've forgotten what Matthew 6:33 means when it says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." We see the "all these things shall be added unto you" but we neglect the first part "Seek ye first the kingdom of God".

The prophet Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:40, "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD." This prophet's cry still resonates throughout the earth, calling us to search our hearts AND our ways. Our hearts cannot be pure unless our ways are parallel to the passion of our heart.

Proverbs 4:26-27 says, "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."

When the prophet said, "Consider your ways", he was speaking to each one of us. Do our "ways" cause us to toil without profit, to gain wealth and have nothing to show for it, to have closets of clothes and yet remain cold? If so, we must heed the word of the Lord through His prophet, "Consider your ways!" We can't blame it on anyone or anything other than ourselves – we're responsible to consider our ways and to remove ourselves from evil.

If we aren't careful to follow the words of the Lord found in Matthew 6:33, when we find we have holes in our bag and dissatisfaction with everything we work for, we too will hear the voice of the prophet saying, "Consider your ways".

Father, forgive me and teach me to seek You first (and the kingdom) and then I will be content with whatever You give me, with little or much, with lack or abundance, but most importantly, with You. Help me to search and try my ways and turn again to You in all things! In Jesus' precious name, amen and amen.

© Jan Ross
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