Consider Your Ways

CONSIDER YOUR WAYS

Haggai 1:4-15; 2:18-19

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: THE FAILING TELEMARKETER

1. I heard that leading up to Christmas, telemarketing companies were giving away Christmas Hams and having good reactions from those they called, except one telemarketer, named Larry.

2. He was given a list of 300 names, and began by saying, "Congratulations! You've just won a Christmas ham." For four hours, as soon as he got the opening line out of his mouth, the prospects hung up.

3. Meanwhile, the other telemarketers were making sales right and left. When his supervisor came by, Larry asked what he was doing wrong.

4. “Perhaps it’s the list,” said the supervisor, handing him another list. "You've been trying to give away hams to Orthodox Jews!"

B. SCRIPTURE

4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while [My] house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but [aren’t] full. You put on clothes, but aren’t warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.” 12 Then...the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord....14 They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

C. BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

1. RETURN FROM EXILE. After the 70 years of exile because of their sins, God brought the Jews back to Palestine, to their own land, in 537 B.C. As soon as they came up out of captivity, they set up an altar for sacrifice, and started building the foundation of the Temple, Ezra 3:10. They worked off-and-on for two years.

2. OPPOSITION ENCOUNTERED. Their work was strongly opposed by other nations, who had moved into their lands, and they were forced to quit working. In time the opposition ceased, but they didn’t renew their work on the Temple. Sixteen (16) years passed with no more efforts to build the Temple. Then God began to speak to them through the prophets Haggai & Zechariah.

3. The title of this message is “Consider Your Ways.”

I. WHY WEREN’T THEY WORKING ON GOD’S HOUSE? (OBEYING GOD?)

A. “IT’S NOT THE RIGHT TIME TO BUILD”

1. They had time to build their own houses, but not to work on God’s Church.

2. People say, “Church is important, but some other things are higher on my priority list...”

• Ball games are more important,

• Fishing, hunting - more important,

• My hobby is more important,

• Taking Sunday off is more important,

• Making money is more important.

3. God says, “Really? You’re going to put Me & My Kingdom below your own common activities?”

4. DOES THE DEVIL HAVE MORE DEDICATED WORKERS THAN GOD? The kingdom of darkness has many champions for its cause, people working to move society into darkness and atheism.

5. Where are the servants of God? Where are those who labor to serve in God’s physical House? Doesn’t God deserve higher devotion than the devil? Are we treating God as He deserves? Another thing the Israelites said was...

B. “IT’S NOT CONVENIENT FOR US TO WORK”

1. The Roman Prefect, Felix, told Paul he would postpone making a decision to receive Christ until a “more convenient season.” People say, “I’ll obey God, just not now.” How many of you know that delayed obedience is really disobedience?

2. People say, “If God wanted me to do something, He’d make it easy for me.”

3. ILLUS.: EASY BUTTON. The Staples Company has made a fortune with their “easy button” commercials. In the commercial, when you pushed the button, whatever you’d been wanting to get done was instantly done. It would be nice if there was such a thing as an easy button. It’s just not that way.

C. OBEDIENCE IS USUALLY NOT AN EASY THING

1. Jesus going to the cross, wasn’t easy. Abram offering his son, wasn’t easy. Deborah leading the army into battle, wasn’t easy. Paul & Silas facing hostile mobs, wasn’t easy.

2. Obedience is the test of our love for God. Difficulties are God’s way of testing our courage and faith; so let’s don’t blame God for OUR neglect of duty!