Haggai 1:5-10
5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
One of the favorite tricks of the devil is to have us desire things that will not satisfy. We can become obsessed with desire for a particular sexual immorality, but discover that once we get it, we are left just wanting more. Often the pursuit of the fantasy is more pleasurable than actually gaining the fantasy, because once we gain it the fantasy is over and we realize its emptiness. The prophet Haggai describes this process as one of the consequences of the Israelites sin in not rebuilding the temple: "Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill" (verses 5-6). We also need to "consider our ways", to examine the fruit, and see if what we are doing is really helpful and not ultimately destructive.
Lord, I confess that Your way is the best way; help me to follow You.
5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.
One of the favorite tricks of the devil is to have us desire things that will not satisfy. We can become obsessed with desire for a particular sexual immorality, but discover that once we get it, we are left just wanting more. Often the pursuit of the fantasy is more pleasurable than actually gaining the fantasy, because once we gain it the fantasy is over and we realize its emptiness. The prophet Haggai describes this process as one of the consequences of the Israelites sin in not rebuilding the temple: "Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill" (verses 5-6). We also need to "consider our ways", to examine the fruit, and see if what we are doing is really helpful and not ultimately destructive.
Lord, I confess that Your way is the best way; help me to follow You.