So, I've kind of been in a funk lately. Funk = a time of laziness and unmotivated to do anything, in case you couldn't figure that out :) I have been searching to find my motivation and just haven't had any luck until recently. Well, this weekend was Half Price Books 50% off one item sale. I am embarrassed to confess to you that I went to 3 different Half Price Book stores in one day in search of a particular book and ended up buying 5 books total. And yes, I used my 50% off at each store! One of the books I got was a book called Made To Crave. It is a book about how we should be craving the Lord and not craving food (something I struggle with, as evident by my current weight). While reading this book the author shares a passage in Haggai. Yes Haggai is a real book in the bible, I promise I didn't make it up. I was completely inspired by this story and God really opened my eyes and convicted me through this passage.
Here's the passage if you would like to read it first;
Haggai 1:2-9
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house. ’” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin? ” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You 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.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 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. “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.
In the book of Haggai, the Jews began building an alter and foundations for the temple but their enemies made it difficult for them to continue building so the brushed the task aside. 10 years later, the Lord's temple still hadn't been built. In verse 4, the Lord speaks through Haggai and says "Is it a time for you yourself to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?" This verse really opened my eyes. The Jews had made building their own homes a priority and completely abandoned the task the Lord had set before them. Each year something else seemed to be more important, something else was always a higher priority. They had time to do the things they really wanted to do, they had time to put paneling up in their own homes while neglecting the home of the Lord. How many times in our own lives do we choose to do the things we want instead of investing in the Lord? How many times do we choose to sleep in instead of waking up to do our quiet time, or watch TV when we could be spending time praying to the one who created us. How many things in our life are taking priority over our relationship with the Lord? For me this passage woke me up in more than one way. First, being reminded that God absolutely needs to be first priority in my life and those things that are so trivial should never be placed before him. I love that the Lord reminds us that no matter how much effort and energy we put into things in life we will not be fulfilled unless we put him first (verse 6). And secondly, as I continue to work on honoring the Lord with my body. Things like exercise and eating healthy should not be pushed to the side or saved for tomorrow. Just as things consume my mind and my attention and take me away from spending time with the Lord, Satan also uses those things to distract me from being active and eating healthy. This is an area in my life I have been investing so much time in and Satan knows that, Satan isn't going to just lie down and play nice, he is going to fight, harder and harder every day to distract me and make other things seem more important. Guess what Satan, you've already had 5 years of me being overweight and unhealthy, that's all you get!!!
What things in your life are you pushing aside that the Lord has called you to invest time and energy in? What things in your life are you investing time and energy in when you should be focusing more on Him?
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