Give careful thought to your ways.

What does the LORD Almighty want to say to His people? Check out the second half of verse (Haggai 1:5): “Give careful thought to your ways.” This is really the major message of the book and is unique to Haggai, occurring five times in two chapters: in 1:5, in 1:7, in 2:15 and twice in 2:18. It means, you’re to think about why things are going crazy in your life. OR: “Look at what’s happening to you!” “Now this is what the LORD Almighty says…”they had lost their view of God as big and mighty. They, and you, need to recapture how mighty and majestic He really is. You see, when your understanding of God’s supremacy slips, you allow other things to overshadow Him. That’s what happened to them. Instead of praising Him, they were living for their own pleasure.  “What you think about God is the most important thing about you.”

God wants you to look at your mind and do a serious inventory. If you don’t, you’ll default to living for yourself and not for the Almighty. “The unexamined life is not worth living.” many Christians today believe in God but live as if He doesn’t exist.

Be honest about something. It’s easy to be an expert in considering the ways of others around you but not so easy in considering your own ways. It’s easy to slam others while excusing yourself. Lamentations 3:40: “Examine your ways and test them, and return to the Lord.” Luke 15:17: “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’” 2 Corinthians 13:5: “Examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith; test yourself. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test.”

God can use all sorts of things to get your attention. Once you pause and ponder your life you will hear God calling you to go deeper by looking at what’s been happening and then you’ll learn from it.

Look and Learn. (Haggai Verse 6): shows you what happens when you don’t put God first. “You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” God hit their agriculture and their economy. The message is clear – you will never find satisfaction until your priorities are right. They had a lot of action but they could get no satisfaction. A sense of dissatisfaction should lead you to find your satisfaction in God alone. God was causing their afflictions in order to get their attention.