Our first reading today is from the Prophet Haggai. The Lord had opened the doors for the rebuilding of his temple in Jerusalem. The exiles had returned. God opened the heart of King Darius. You would think that the people would jump at this chance. Uh…not so much. More in a sec. In the Gospel reading from Luke 9, we read about Herod’s curiosity about Jesus. If you recall, Herod was fascinated by John the Baptist. He had a similar fascination with Jesus. The Scripture tells us, “And he kept trying to see him.”
There is a phrase that is used twice in our first reading from Haggai. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways!” After having returned to their homeland, the exiles were all good with building up their own houses. But they weren’t so fired up about building up the house of God. Thus the admonition from the Lord, “Consider your ways!”
I like doing little home improvement projects. They make our place more homey and hopefully add value. But am I adding value to God's house? I don't necessarily mean building a new wing on my church, but am I building up the Kingdom of God? The people of Haggai's time were more focused on building their own houses at the expense of God's. Are we?
Father, may we always be about the business of adding value to your house by building up the Kingdom. Amen.
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