The ''RIGHT'' Journey
Jerry Watts
Haggai 2:10-23
Turn to Haggai 2. I have heard it said, ''Life is a journey, not a destination,'' but I counter with this, ''It's both.'' You are headed to a 1 or 2 possible destinations. The old spiritual says, ''I am a poor wayfaring stranger traveling through this world of woe. There ain't no sickness no toil or danger, in that bright land to which I go.'' There are many other songs which conveys this same thought of being a pilgrim, stranger, and foreigner simply passing through this world. This is the concept passed to us by God's people in scripture. Too often these days, God's people seem to be residents of this world rather than a resident alien. It seems that God's people have fallen in love with this world they have forgotten the world to come. James teaches, ''to be friends with this world is to be enmity with God.'
This is exactly what happened to God's people, in Haggai. They had been returned from captivity in Babylon. God has arranged for them to be released to return home for the purposes of rebuilding the temple, restarting worship, and restoring His work. They were given a divine task to complete, but they fell in love with the plush houses, comfortable lifestyle, and their earthly success. So, they placed God, His will, word, and works on the back burner while they attended to things that were important to them. To me, It was a kind of medieval modern-day mess.
Allow me to frame it this way: They had begun the spiritual journey, but they had abandoned it for personal preferences. Personal preference - doesn't that sound like something we could or would major on today? Is this the reason that church buildings have so many empty seats on Sundays? Is this why many local churches, once strong, are closing their doors? Could it be that this thing of personal preferences has derailed, sidetracked, and/or gotten God's people off course from the right journey? It certainly did to the nation of Israel in Hagg ...
Jerry Watts
Haggai 2:10-23
Turn to Haggai 2. I have heard it said, ''Life is a journey, not a destination,'' but I counter with this, ''It's both.'' You are headed to a 1 or 2 possible destinations. The old spiritual says, ''I am a poor wayfaring stranger traveling through this world of woe. There ain't no sickness no toil or danger, in that bright land to which I go.'' There are many other songs which conveys this same thought of being a pilgrim, stranger, and foreigner simply passing through this world. This is the concept passed to us by God's people in scripture. Too often these days, God's people seem to be residents of this world rather than a resident alien. It seems that God's people have fallen in love with this world they have forgotten the world to come. James teaches, ''to be friends with this world is to be enmity with God.'
This is exactly what happened to God's people, in Haggai. They had been returned from captivity in Babylon. God has arranged for them to be released to return home for the purposes of rebuilding the temple, restarting worship, and restoring His work. They were given a divine task to complete, but they fell in love with the plush houses, comfortable lifestyle, and their earthly success. So, they placed God, His will, word, and works on the back burner while they attended to things that were important to them. To me, It was a kind of medieval modern-day mess.
Allow me to frame it this way: They had begun the spiritual journey, but they had abandoned it for personal preferences. Personal preference - doesn't that sound like something we could or would major on today? Is this the reason that church buildings have so many empty seats on Sundays? Is this why many local churches, once strong, are closing their doors? Could it be that this thing of personal preferences has derailed, sidetracked, and/or gotten God's people off course from the right journey? It certainly did to the nation of Israel in Hagg ...
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