September 19 — Consider Your Ways
SCRIPTURE READING:
Haggai
SCRIPTURE:
Haggai 1
¹In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
²Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
³Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
⁴Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
⁵Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
⁶Ye have sown much, and bring in 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.
⁷Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
⁸Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
⁹Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
¹⁰Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
¹¹And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
¹²Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, 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, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.
¹³Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
¹⁴And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
¹⁵In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.
Haggai 2
¹In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
²Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
³Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
⁴Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the LORD, and work: for I am with you, saith the LORD of hosts:
⁵According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.
⁶For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
⁷And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
⁸The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD of hosts.
⁹The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.
¹⁰In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
¹¹Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
¹²If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
¹³Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
¹⁴Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
¹⁵And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:
¹⁶Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
¹⁷I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.
¹⁸Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, consider it.
¹⁹Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
²⁰And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
²¹Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
²²And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
²³In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.
DEVOTIONAL:
Haggai speaks to a returned remnant whose initial enthusiasm for rebuilding the temple has cooled. The people say the time has not come for the LORD's house, while their own paneled houses receive attention. The prophet's repeated command is direct: 'Consider your ways.' Their frustrated harvests, inadequate food, unsatisfying drink, insufficient clothing, and disappearing wages expose a disorder of priorities. Haggai is not teaching a mechanical prosperity formula in which temple donations guarantee personal wealth. He is interpreting a specific covenant situation for post-exilic Judah, where neglect of God's house stood inside the blessings-and-curses framework of Israel's covenant. The enduring principle is not that every financial hardship reveals inadequate giving. It is that God's people must examine whether personal comfort has quietly displaced the worship and work He has clearly assigned.
The response is one of the book's encouraging features. Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the remnant obey the voice of the LORD, and the people fear before Him. Then comes a brief promise strong enough to carry the work: 'I am with you.' God stirs the spirit of the leaders and the people, and rebuilding resumes. Notice the relationship between divine action and human obedience. The remnant does not wait passively for motivation before lifting a tool, and the text does not attribute renewed courage merely to willpower. They obey, and the LORD stirs them. Biblical renewal often works that way. Grace awakens obedience, obedience places us in the path of further grace, and God's presence sustains work that would otherwise be overwhelmed by comparison or fatigue.
Chapter 2 addresses comparison directly. Older people who remember Solomon's temple can see that the new structure appears as nothing beside the former glory. Haggai does not deny the contrast. He tells Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the people to be strong and work because the LORD is with them according to His covenant word from the exodus. The promise of cosmic shaking and greater glory reaches beyond the building's immediate appearance. Hebrews later cites Haggai's shaking language to contrast what can be shaken with the unshakable kingdom believers receive. Christians have also long read Haggai's language about the nations and glory in a messianic direction, though interpretations of the phrase translated 'the desire of all nations' differ. What is clear is that God's final purpose is larger than the remnant's visible resources.
The chapter closes with Zerubbabel as the LORD's chosen signet, reversing the judgment once associated with his royal line and keeping Davidic hope alive in the post-exilic community. Zerubbabel will not himself become the final Davidic king, but his place in the genealogy of Jesus shows that the promise moves forward through apparently modest circumstances. The Messiah comes through a line that survives exile, disappointing comparisons, imperial subordination, and unfinished expectations. That should change how Christians measure faithfulness. We are not authorized to call small obedience insignificant merely because it lacks visible grandeur. Christ's kingdom often advances through ordinary congregations, patient parenting, unnoticed service, honest work, sacrificial giving, and people who keep building because the Lord is with them.
In daily life, 'consider your ways' can become a practical inventory rather than a vague feeling. Look at the calendar and bank statement, because priorities often become clearest there. Ask whether your family gives God only what remains after every preference is funded and scheduled. If church service has become neglected, choose one concrete responsibility rather than promising indefinite future availability. At work, resist the discouragement that comes from comparing your assignment with someone else's scale or visibility. Parents can teach children that faithfulness is not measured by applause. If God has clearly given a task, begin where you are, use what you have, and refuse to call obedience too small for Him to value.
In U.S. civic life, the virtue is responsible prioritization of the common good over private comfort. Pray for budgets at every level of government to be handled with honesty, long-term stewardship, and concern for essential responsibilities rather than vanity projects or short-term applause. Ask God to give citizens the willingness to bear reasonable costs for maintaining communities while keeping leaders accountable for waste. Pray for churches to model generous service without seeking state privilege. Christian citizens should examine their own priorities before condemning everyone else's, support necessary community responsibilities, and resist the belief that personal prosperity is the highest measure of national well-being.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What specific covenant setting must be remembered before applying Haggai's statements about drought and material frustration to Christians today?
How do obedience and God's stirring work together in the remnant's renewed building effort?
Why can comparison with a more impressive past become spiritually dangerous even when the comparison is factually accurate?
What would a review of your schedule and spending reveal about the priorities you are actually practicing?
PRAYER:
ADORATION: LORD of hosts, You are present with Your people and Your purposes are not limited by small beginnings. The silver, the gold, the nations, and every generation stand under Your ownership.
CONFESSION: Forgive us for postponing obedience while making time for comfort, for measuring Your work by visible impressiveness, and for treating material ease as the highest evidence of blessing.
THANKSGIVING: Thank You that You stirred the remnant to work and preserved Davidic hope through Zerubbabel's line until the coming of Jesus the Messiah. Thank You for an unshakable kingdom that outlasts every earthly structure.
SUPPLICATION – GENERAL: Help us consider our ways truthfully. Reorder our calendars, spending, ambitions, and service so that obedience receives more than leftovers. Strengthen discouraged workers who are faithful in places that look small.
SUPPLICATION – U.S. / CIVIC: Give public leaders wisdom to distinguish essential stewardship from vanity and waste. Form citizens who can support genuine common responsibilities while demanding transparency, and keep material comfort from becoming our national god.
SCRIPTURE: I am with you, saith the LORD.