Haggai 1:4 Is it time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house remains desolate.
Reflection: Sermon Thoughts: Part 1 Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro As I prepared this message this week, I really was struck by the idea that God would say what he says to the people…. “is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses?” The prophet Haggai boldly proclaims the word of the Lord to a people who had become complacent, and their complacence showed up by their obsession with comfort. Paneled houses were a comfort and convenience in that time that we would hardly call luxurious by today’s standards. What might the prophet tell us, His people, today? I have preached hundreds of sermons over the last 25 years… very few more difficult to preach. I mean difficult to preach, not because I think it may be unpopular, as much as difficult to preach because it is an area in my own life in which I struggle. I like the comforts and conveniences that I have… and I hate sacrifice. I like investing in things that make me happy. Yet, sometimes God calls me to keep that desire in check. I think that, on the one hand, God loves me and has blessed me. I have no desire to apo0logize for the blessings of God on my life. On the other hand, I am being called to live my life with open hands, recognizing what is mine is really God’s to do with what he likes.
Prayer Lord, help us to be a people that loves you so much that we have open hands with our possessions, trusting you with all that we have.
