Working On The Temple

I pray everyone had a happy and joyous Thanksgiving Day with friends and family. It’s just not the same celebration as when I was growing up, yet it is. I mean, Thanksgiving is still the kick-off weekend for the holiday season, but the reverence and the true thought of “giving thanks” seems to be fading into the shadows of commerce more and more every year. It was nearly a crime to do business on Thanksgiving Day in the 50’s, but today the family is ever-more-so being dragged apart with members protecting their employment by having to work away from home. It used to be that a holiday decoration was never seen before Thanksgiving, but now it seems the first of November isn’t early enough for some. It’s also the day children are to have their Christmas gift wish lists ready for distribution. One small boy was giving his lists to his parents with the following instructions: “Fax this list to Santa; Email this list to God and I want to talk direct to Grandma.” Most kids still know who really butters their bread when it comes to getting what they want. An end run around mom and dad, touchdown! Don’t let them try to fool ya, grandparents love their job and only wish they could have had their grandchildren first. Spoil them rotten with love, then send them home.
A six-year-old was asked where his grandmother lived. “Oh”, he said, “She lives at the airport and when we want her, we just go get her. Then when we’re done having her visit, we take her back to the airport.”
Two young boys were spending the night at their grandmother’s house. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers. The youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs, “I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE. I PRAY FOR A NEW PLAY STATION. I PRAY FOR A NEW DVD...” His older brother leaned over and nudged him saying, “Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn’t deaf ya know!” The younger replied with confidence, “No, but grandma is!”
[Haggai 1: 2-11] After 70 years of captivity, God graciously allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. In Ezra 3:10, the work began with great joy. Soon afterward though, the Israelites let adversities stop the work and the temple of God remained barren and desolate. The message God sent through Haggai was: “Consider your ways!” The Israelites were willing to put forth for themselves, but not for God. Are we like the Israelites? Where are our priorities? “Do you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3: 16-17) The coming holiday season is a strange time of the year. That’s when people celebrate the birth of the “Prince Of Peace” by buying toy guns, video games full of violence, disrespect for others and the glorification of illegal activity, cell phones for secret texting and an array of “look at me” clothing accessories. Are we spoiling our children by giving into their every want and desire, or are we destroying the temple of God? Are we “providing” for ourselves when we spend more time on our houses, lawns and cars than we spend on God’s work, or are we destroying the temple of God? Why are we having so much trouble in life lately? Is God holding back because we’re not working on the temple? I think so. Read Haggai again and decide for yourself.