“Consider your ways (your previous and
present conduct) and how you have fared.”
Haggai 1:7 Amp
Here we go a-pondering again! I love to do this.
This verse may get printed out and put on my bathroom mirror and refrigerator!
The Lord spoke through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, “Is it then the right time for you to live in luxurious homes, when the Temple lies in ruins? Look at the result: You plant much but harvest little. You have scarcely enough to eat or drink and not enough clothes to keep you warm. Your income disappears, as though you were putting it into pockets filled with holes! Think it over, says the Lord Almighty. Consider how you have acted and what has happened as a result!” (Hag. 1:3-8 TLB)
According to the Hebrew Masoretic Text, verse 7 is translated, “Set your heart on your ways.” The word used for set means to put, to place, to fix, to ordain, to establish, to direct, to determine, etc. Heart means inner man, soul, or conscience. The Hebrew word for ways means course of life, mode of action, road, or journey.
Let’s ponder that…Set your heart on your ways. Consider how you have fared. Consider how you have acted and what has happened as a result!
How have we acted? What is our conduct?
We desire more for ourselves than we do for others who struggle with much less. We put other activities and time before that which should belong to the Lord. We do not give God top priority and our lives lack the necessary things to carry on the work for God. God’s house suffers lack of funds because we do not give as we should.
Maybe we need a monthly, weekly, or even a daily check-up on ourselves. We should make up a check list and ask ourselves:
1. Do I set my mind to go where God is leading me?
2. Do I set my heart on what the Holy Spirit is nudging me to do?
3. Who and what do I put first in my life?
4. Where is most of my time spent?
5. Do I spend time every day in meditation and quiet to study and pray to know Him better?
6. Am I an example of Christ to my spouse, children, other family members, others?
7. Do I exhibit the fruits of the Spirit? Have I matured enough to have any fruit showing?
8. What attitudes or sins do I have hidden deep within that need to be recognized and cleaned out? Do I allow His light to shine in those dark places of my heart?
9. Am I a humble, obedient servant?
10. Am I a reflection of Jesus?
Therefore, “let us test and examine our ways” (Lam. 3:40a NLT), for “Our goal is to please Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9 NLT)
Joshua, in his last days, called all Israel together to give them some words of advice, exhort them to be faithful to God, and encourage them to continue to love the Lord, “Be very watchful of yourselves, therefore, to love the Lord your God.” (Josh. 23:11 Amp)
I pray as Solomon did when he finished building the temple and blessed the assembly, saying, “May the Lord our God be with us…that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statues, and His precepts which He commanded.” (1 Kings 8:57a, 58 Amp)
“Consider your ways (your previous and
present conduct) and how you have fared.”
Haggai 1:7 Amp