The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Haggai 1:3-7, “Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?”
5 Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways!
6 “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways!”

In Old Testament times, the “House of the LORD” was a physical structure. That is not so today. While we often speak of the “church” as being a physical structure, the true “church” is comprised of the people who belong to the LORD. This often leads us to misunderstand passages of Scripture like the passage above. Thus, we need to view Scripture in the timeframe in which it was written, but understand its principle as related to our own time.

“Consider your ways!” Haggai scolded the Jewish people of his day for living in luxurious homes, but neglecting the physical House of the LORD. The principle meaning of this passage to us requires a consideration of how much time and money we spend on ourselves compared with how much time and/or money we invest in the ministry of the LORD’s work at home and overseas.

When the LORD says, “Consider your ways,” He is provoking a measurement of what we most love and treasure: the souls of lost ones or our material possessions? Dr. Vern Poythress states,

If we are concerned for unbelievers as whole people and not just narrowly
worried about debating points, we should try to think about how we can
explain to them that they will never come to know the truth rightly without
communion with God… communion (that) comes through Christ. We should
indicate the Christ of whom we speak is the Christ who is described in the
Bible and who reveals himself in the Bible. So the Bible ought to come into
the discussion as we try to rescue unbelieving philosophers from their
suppression of the truth and their rebellion against God.

Well, are we concerned? If we truly are, we must prepare by arming ourselves with Scripture that is smothered in loving prayer. We would undoubtedly be amazed at how many lost people wonder why we Christians are not eager to share Christ with them. Yet, before we challenge the lost to “consider their ways,” we would do well to consider our own. Where do you find yourself standing as you consider your ways?

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom