You earn wages,
only to put them in a purse with holes in it (Haggai 1:6).
When Jerusalem was
besieged, Solomon’s temple was destroyed before the final group of hostages was
transported to Babylon. Over 50 years later, under King Cyrus, the exiles were
restored to their ancestral home.
Upon returning to
Jerusalem, they were quick to plant crops and build houses for themselves, but
they dragged their feet when it came to rebuilding the temple. God speaks to
them through the prophet Haggai: Is it time for you to be living in
your paneled houses, while [the temple] remains a ruin? (NIV 1984, 1:4).
Then Haggai,
speaking on behalf of Yahweh, summarizes their financial portfolios: Your
crops aren’t doing so good, you don’t have enough to eat or drink, the chilly
breeze goes right through the holes in your clothes, and your paycheck never
lasts until the end of the month. Kind of makes you say, “Hmmm.” (Author’s Paraphrase, v. 6)
Today’s equivalent
of building up God’s house before building our own would probably be giving
financial support to the church. We could argue about whether or not the tithe
(a tenth of our income) is still the standard, but we can’t argue with the
results. Being generous with God and his children has a way of coming back to
bless us.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Think about what it has
meant when others were generous with you. What would it mean in your life to
pay that generosity forward?
No comments:
Post a Comment