SCRIPTURE: Haggai 1:5-6 5. Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hoses, Consider your ways, 6. Ye have sown much, and bring 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. (KJV) REFLECTION: Haggai, living in pre-Christ times, describes today’s society. I watch, read and sometimes experience all the behavior he describes. I see people who work hard and have little to show for their labor. I myself sometimes eat and drink gluttonously and yet remain hungry and thirsty. Media ads convince us we never have enough clothing to keep warm (or at least, enough clothes reflecting the current trend). And bankruptcy is routine and acceptable, as people incur so much debt their earnings fall through holes like water through a container filled with holes. These behaviors are not new to our society, although we somehow feel they originated with us. What caused the existence of those behaviors in Haggai’s time? What causes them today? The root causes are probably similar: too much stress. I can’t name the historic stressors, but I can identify some of the current stressors that affect people today, creating fertile ground for unwanted behaviors. Lack of relationship fulfillment and lack of grounding in tradition/ ritual, combined with rapid changes accompanying the race toward the information age---all contribute to a sense that life is out of our control. The result is untethered, runaway behaviors: overspending, over eating, and over drinking. Haggai’s reassurance is a message for today: the Lord is with us. If we are strong and work in the house of the Lord He will destroy the kingdoms of the heathen. He will claim us and make us “as a signet: for I have chosen thee.” Both Haggai’s and today’s society worked for the wrong reason. They need to work for God rather than the rat-race of the secular world. The question is whether we are strong enough to buck society and work for God, putting Him first. Perhaps if we did that we would gain a new perspective, and our priorities would change, releasing us from the pressures and tensions of the secular world and enabling us to satisfy our needs.
PRAYER: Lord, help me get off the train of consumerism and empty relationships. I so need to revamp my life to bring it onto the track of Godliness. Amen. ---written by Carolyn | 
