Haggai 1-2

“Consider your ways.  You have sown much, and harvested little.  You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill” (1:6).  The exiles who had returned to Judah had not completed the task of rebuilding the Temple.  They had begun under Ezra and Nehemiah, but the pursuit of their of own comfort had become their priority.  They argued that “it wasn’t time” to rebuild the Temple (1:2).  But Haggai pointed out that their efforts to achieve security and happiness were failing; they hadn’t put God first and were losing everything  (1:9).

“My Spirit remains in your midst; fear not” (2:5). When we recognize the Lord as King and make His priorities our own, we have nothing to lose and nothing to fear.