Common Sense Reborn

December 3

⁵Now this is what the Lord Almighty says:  “Give careful thought to your ways.  ⁶You have planted much, but harvested little.  You eat, but never have enough.  You drink, but never have your fill.  You put on clothes, but are not warm.  You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”  (Haggai 1:5, 6)

Happy December family!  I can not believe 2021 is almost over.  Our final few weeks and we only have three short books of the Old Testament and the joyful book of Revelation in the New Testament.  The Book of Haggai is extremely short, just two chapters and the content is not the strongest.  But these two verses from Chapter 1 stuck out to me.  When I first read this, I interpreted these verses as God withholding things from the Jewish people due to their lackluster faith in God.  But then I read it in a different context:  Is God just pointing out the errors of their ways?  God’s opening statement sets the stage for the rest of this paragraph:  “give careful thought to YOUR ways.”

It is your ways that bring you trouble.  You plant much, but your laziness has only brought in a little harvest.  You eat, but perhaps because of what you are eating, you are never full.  You drink, but your drinks are full of sugar and junk so you are always thirsty.  We put on clothes, not for purpose, but simply for looks, with holes all in our jeans, so we throw our money at overpriced items that have no real value.  Which ties right into that last statement, we earn wages, only to put them in a pocket with a hole in it.  All of this sounds like the America we live in today.  Written by a prophet nearly 2520 years ago, and still ringing true today.

The Holy BIble is as relevant today as it was when it was first recorded.  This month we will wrap up our reading of the Holy Book and I can not wait to take these final steps with you into 2022.

Today brought the release of two amazing albums, a new one from Lecrae and a Christmas offering from Maverick City Church.  Last year I shared my favorite Christmas songs, but this year I will be looking for new music to share throughout the month.  For tonight, I leave you with this beautiful song by Benjamin Hastings.

Reading plan:  Revelation 3; Haggai 2:10-19