Bringing the House Down“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 earn wages, earn wages to put into a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:6) In the 2003 movie Bringing Down The House, lonely guy Steve Martin met convict Queen Latifah online who later escaped from prison to wreak havoc on his middle class life. While the film is funny and a box office smash, the Bible has a better version in the Book of Haggai. The people of God were busy building their houses and ignored God’s house and as a result, they worked hard but produced little, and even put their wages into a bag with holes. God brought down their houses and finally spoke through the prophet Haggai to tell them why they were not yielding any fruit. “‘You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you it brought home, I blew it away. Why?’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.’”(Haggai 1:9-11) God had finally had enough because the top priority of building His house were not His people’s priorities like today. So, He brought down their houses to get their attention. Zerubbabel was godly governor of Judah who sought to do God's will. He listened to Haggai and responded. (Haggai 1:12) Sometimes God has to stir up the spirit of one person to initiate change, and Zerubbabel was the man. (Haggai 1:14) Similarly, God is stirring up the spirit of a faithful remnant to build His house by going into all the world and preaching the gospel of salvation to every creature.(Mark 16:15) They are seeing the sins and desolation that break God’s heart, and they’re responding by reaching out to share the love of God to the lost, the blind, the backslidden, the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. You may not go to church, but God may have placed the spirit of Zerubbabel within you. Do you love God, or are you only concerned about building your own house? God is calling His faithful in these last days to make a difference, and as we build His house and put Him FIRST, instead of bringing down the house, He'll help us build our house. (Matthew 6:33)Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
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