“In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest:”
Haggai 1:1 ESV
(MONTH OF ELUL)
The roots of our reluctance lays ultimately in our selfish indifference to the Lord. God’s displeasure can be noted when we find ourselves in deep financial situations especially because we have wanted the wealth for ourselves, and not His work.
Selfish indulgence demonstrated by our hypocrisy and misplaced priorities has only caused us to experience drought and endless financial difficulties. We are too quick to satisfy our financial hunger and completely ignore why God gives us what we often term as “ours”
“Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.””
Haggai 1:10-11 ESV
Because we are zealous to pursue our own interests, we are now experiencing economic catastrophes resulting from God withholding of dew which is the price of our disobedience. Deuteronomy 7:13, Joel 1:18-20
Why would we put all the blame on the government or the leaders when we ourselves haven’t considered building the kingdom of God?
By putting God first, He would then be honoured in our worship through sacrificial giving and we would be blessed in the secondary matters of life. We can keep asking for provision and a better economy but if we stay disobedient to Him, then there will obviously be even much more hardship.
Personally, the Lord has taught me this principle the hard way for the last 2 years! My finances kept going up and down because I wasn’t learning the principles that God was teaching me. Every time I invest in winning souls for Christ, God provides in abundance… every time I forget about it or relax, I find myself in a financial crisis.
Today I am reminded about this as I read the book of Haggai which is the book we get to read through the month of Elul before we get to the head of the year.
I believe that if you too focus on building the kingdom of God through the winning of souls, your financial statement will not stay the same again.
“For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:32-33 ESV
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