A Bag With Holes

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Today’s Passage – Haggai 1 – 2 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Revelation 21 – 22; Psalms 146 – 150; Proverbs 30 – 31)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 18:3 & 46

Read the “0930 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. …Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” (Haggai 1:6 & 9)

Haggai is writing to the children of Israel that have returned to the land after their time spent in captivity in the land of Babylon, and later Persia. Upon returning, they had done well in the beginning: they immediately began to re-build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. However, after some opposition came along (and it always does), they put aside the building of God’s house and began working on their own houses and farms, etc. The problem was that God was not blessing them in their work. In many respects they were spinning their wheels. They were working hard, but God wasn’t helping them, simply because they were no longer putting the Lord first in their lives.

I see a lot of parallels from this passage with Christians today. There has never been a time in the history of America when we are as busy as we are now. Many families have both husband and wife working with some folks working two and three jobs. It is very common to hear people say that they would like to attend all of the church services, but they always have to work. After all, they have to take care of their families, don’t they? Now, I understand that people need to work. Work is good. The Bible says that men need to work in order to eat; but when our work replaces God, or seriously interferes with our worship of Him, something is wrong. And I wonder if God isn’t doing to us what he did to those Israelites of old who had misplaced priorities. Do you miss church regularly due to work? I’m not saying it is always wrong, but you have to ask yourself and the Lord if your missing services is OK with Him.

The same could be said about our giving. We would like to give, but money is tight. We justify our lack of giving due to the fact that we need to care for our families. But did you ever think that by taking matters into your own hands, you are forsaking God and removing His blessing upon your life. God said that their wages were going through a bag filled with holes. I have often felt that my money was going into a bag like that as well. Have you stopped giving your tithes and offerings because money is tight? You can expect it to get even tighter.

The problem is that we are often blind to this condition. We don’t see where we have put something above God in our lives. Ask yourself honestly. Have you put something in front of God: your job; your children; your pleasure? What is causing you to miss the full blessing of God in your life. We need to put God back where He belongs in our lives. He deserves and demands first place. After the Israelites repented and starting working again on the temple, God said, “I am with you”. I want God to be with me in my life, and He will be as long as put Him in His rightful place. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that God is with you, that His hand of approval and blessing is on every aspect of your life?

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” – (Matthew 6:33)

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” – (Colossians 1:18)

“I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.” – (2 Corinthians 8:8)

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.” – (Malachi 3:10-11)


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