In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying. Haggai 1:1
Why do so many university students flunk out after the first semester? As many as ten percent of first-year students don’t have the marks to continue in the courses that they have started. Reality hits as these students discover that all of the classes they have missed and the assignments they didn’t finish have left them without any hope of passing. Why did they miss classes? Why did they not complete assignments? Because they threw themselves into the social side of university life instead of the academic side. Their priorities were wrong. Just like the people who the prophet Haggai was sent to confront.
Haggai was in Jerusalem in the days after the return of the Babylonian captives to Israel. He saw the people building new homes for themselves, and putting their farms into production, creating a new life for themselves in the land. But he also saw no effort on their part to rebuild the temple and to restore the worship of God that was so critical to their identity. The prophet’s message from the Lord was that their priorities were wrong, and they would not prosper in the land until their priorities were right. It’s a lesson we need to learn, as well.
What are your top priorities? The answer to that question will determine whether you are a spiritual Christian or a worldly Christian. There is a divine principle that God will honour those who honour Him (1 Samuel 2:30). The more of our time, our energies, and our interest are poured into the study of the Scriptures, the devotion to the Lord’s Assembly, and the support of the Gospel outreach, the more we will be investing in eternal blessings. – Jim MacIntosh
Here ios trhe link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/fUMU9ncZvY4