What Am I Mindful Of?
“You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” Haggai 1:6 NKJV
I was thinking of Haggai and how that book begins. Recall that the people had been taking care of themselves and their homes, while not being mindful of His House which remained unbuilt. They have time to care for the things of this life but have no focus on the things on the Lord. This is such an easy place for us to find ourselves, especially in this society which emphasizes self and is determined to not give any thought to the things of the Lord.
In this chapter the Lord asks the people to consider their ways and then in the verse above, He explains that they are not experiencing His blessings daily. We read that and think of this in terms of God punishing them because they are not focused on the right things. But that is not really the heart of God, nor is that the lesson we are to learn from it. Does God want them to focus on Him in all their ways? Of course! But we see that there is a connection between their wrong focus and the results that they see in life. The results are not a form of punishment from the Lord. That is made clear in verse 10: Therefore the heavens above you [for your sake] withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce. Haggai 1:10 Amplified Bible
There is a cause and effect relationship between wrong priorities and seeing little come from their efforts. This was not God’s anger but rather an example of His grace and love for His own. He knew that if they had enough to meet their needs, they would be content and never look to Him. If they failed to place their trust in Him, they would never be able to receive all the richness of the good things that He had for them.
He wants you to walk in all of His blessings. He doesn’t want you to settle for less than He has for you. They could never fully receive the abundance He had for them until they turned to Him, and so for their sake, He withheld His favor. The lesson to take away from this is that Jesus has so much more for you and you should have an expectancy to receive it. Position yourself to receive all His richness for you, by being mindful of Jesus, His ways, and His Word.
J Todd Hostetler