Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!
“Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over.” (The Message)
“You have sown much, and bring in little;
You work really hard, but have little to show for it.
You eat, but do not have enough;
You study but you don’t get anything from it.
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You have the Holy Spirit, but you don’t let Him control you.
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
You have the righteousness of Christ but prefer your own.
And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
You’re trying to earn God’s attention, His favor, His salvation.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! Haggai 1:5-7 (NKJV)
And when I say “you,” I mean me.
But there’s more to it. God gives the solution.
‘Be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’ Haggai 2:4-5
The Message renders it this way.“‘Yes, get to work! For I am with you.’ The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is speaking! ‘Put into action the word I covenanted with you when you left Egypt. I’m living and breathing among you right now. Don’t be timid. Don’t hold back.’
Our failures, our shortcomings are never the end of the story. We still have a commission and His Spirit remains with us.
Remains.
See, He never left.
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