The Greatest Compliment We Could Receive

Hag 1:12 - And the people showed reverence for the LORD. NASU 
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• Do People Say This About Us? 

The Israelites had just been reprimanded by the prophet Haggai for not being concerned about rebuilding the temple of God. Yet their houses where they lived were very nice.
 
Haggai says, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"
 
The Israelites were not interested in the temple of God being rebuilt. They were interested in their own houses being in great condition. The people weren't any different in 500 BC than some people are today.
 
They knew they would be judged by people by what type of house they lived in and they wanted this judgment to speak highly of them. They wanted the words "they must be rich" to be said about them because of the house they owned. 

• Unfinished Project 

Here is what we know. They started rebuilding the temple of God in Jerusalem in 536 BC. They worked on it for two years and then stopped. However, they didn't stop working on their own houses.
 
God sends Haggai to speak to them and he reprimands them for their living style. How were they living? They were doing everything they could do to get rich, but God wasn't allowing it to happen.
 
Hag 1:5-6 - Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider your ways!" You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is  not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes."
 
The Hebrew word for "consider" literally means "to set your heart upon" your ways. So don't worry about what anyone else says about your way of living. What does your heart say about your way of living for the LORD?
 
They needed to ask themselves this question: Is our way of life being blessed by the LORD?
 
1. The Israelites sowed a lot but harvested little. What they harvest doesn't satisfy their hunger.

2. Their vineyards didn't produce enough grapes for them to even get drunk.

3. When it gets cold they don't have enough clothing to get warm.

4. They earn wages. They have jobs but their money is spent before the month runs out as we say today. Their purses or wallets have holes in them. 

• Haggai's Message Obeyed 

Hag 1:12 - Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet,…
 
Haggai's sermon had a major impact on the Israelites and it brings about a change in their lives. Haggai says, "And the people showed reverence for the LORD".
 
They showed "reverence" by being obedient to what the prophet preached.
 
Do you want to be known as a person who shows reverence for the LORD? Then obey what the "Word of the LORD" says about building His Temple today.
 
What? What temple is the Lord building today? I am glad you asked. 

• The New Testament Temple 

1 Cor. 3:16-17 - Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
 
1 Cor. 6:19-20 - Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
 
The apostle Paul makes it crystal clear that we are the "temple of God" today. What should matter to us is how we take care of the "temple of God".
 
I like what Luke wrote about Jesus in the book of Acts 10:38 - "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good…
 
We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us as Christians. Jesus had the Holy Spirit working through Him. Jesus went about "doing good" and that would be a great example for us to follow in our life time.
 
 The best way we can show "reverence for the LORD" is be like Jesus.
 
How can we be like Jesus?
 
He was a man who went about "doing good" for other people. Can we go about doing good for other people today? The answer is yes.

What is the best thing we can do for people? Allow them to know who God really is. Don't judge them. Simply let them know you care about their spiritual well being.
 
There are a lot of people who want nothing to do with God because there are a lot of Christians who act just like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' day.
 
When I was in the located ministry I had people tell me going to church was not for them because of all the hypocrites who attend church.
 
My answer was always: You are not going to allow a hypocrite keep you away from worshipping the Lord are you? You are needed to come and worship God and worship Him correctly in "truth and spirit".
 
The greatest compliment that can be said about Christians today is that we showed reverence for the LORD.
 
Can that compliment be said about you? 

Think About These:
 
The fellow who does things that count doesn’t stop to count them.
 
Sincere humility attracts. Lack of humility subtracts. Artificial humility detracts.
 
There is no limit to the amount of good a person can do if they don't care who gets the credit.
 
Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word