Consider Your Ways
A Lifetime Experience
"Consider your ways!" That is what the Lord said to His people in the book of Haggai. What does it mean to consider your ways? I believe that it goes without out saying, that considering one's way is more than an arbitrary or cursory review of one's life, but a life-long pursuit. The Lord God said to the children of Israel:
"Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39)."
God was telling them to "know" and "consider" with the heart, certain truths that must be understood to walk properly with God. We cannot say that we believe in God and His Word if we do not consistently and obediently put into practice that which God has spoken.
During the time of Samuel the Prophet, the children of Israel cried out for a king. Samuel, as you would imagine, was angry with them. Then they cried out again for forgiveness and Samuel said to them:
"Then Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people (1 Samuel 12:20 ? 22)."
We should not fear God when He shows us our frailties or sin, but cry out to our Awesome Deliverer. Samuel went on to say:
- "Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you (1 Samuel 12:24)."
They were to "consider" the great and wonderful things that God had done for them. They were to give not just their tithe, but their lives, in the service of God. That is why Paul said to the Romans:
- "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1 - 2)."
He told them that only by the "renewing" of our mind would we be able to know God's will for our lives. The path to being transformed is by "considering our ways."
Listen to the word of God through the Prophet Haggai:
- "Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: 'This people says, "The time has not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." ' " Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?" Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: "Consider your ways! (See note below) "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes." Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Consider your ways! (See note below) Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the Lord. "You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?" says the Lord of hosts. "Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit."
If we do not carefully consider our ways, then we have no excuse when we are unfulfilled and unprofitable in the Master's Hand. Consider where your treasures lie, are they with God or with the World? Are your treasures in bags with holes? If so, remember to invest in the Lord's work with your entire life, and then see if God does not bless you abundantly both here and in heaven. Remember, it was Jesus who said:
"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38 )."
Remember me, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and pray for me that I would give to Jesus everything I possess for the Kingdom of God.
[NOTE: "Consider your ways--literally, "Set your heart" on your ways. The plural implies, Consider both what ye have done (actively, Lamentations 3:40) and what ye have suffered (passively) [JEROME]. Ponder earnestly whether ye have gained by seeking self at the sacrifice of God.? - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible]
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