Consider Your Ways
- Avis Sparks
- Feb 10
- 3 min read
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways.”
-Haggai 1:7 (NKJV)
As Christians, God is calling us to regularly assess where our time, heart, and efforts have been directed. In the book of Haggai, God called His people to take stock of their state and how they had been living. He asked how they were managing their time and resources and if they were getting the results of their efforts. They had worked diligently for years, building and working, and He wanted them to see that it was not bringing them the prosperity and results they were working so hard to achieve because they had forgotten to incorporate Him. (Haggai 1:6-11)
Realignment.
“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!
-Haggai 2-5 (NKJV)
God wants us to prioritize building His temple (Ourselves) and the space where we meet and commune with Him. However, the list of to-dos and the drive to accomplish they have us focusing on building our Homes (success, financial future, social standing, relational ties). And some of us have not been building at all, but have become like the person described in Proverbs 24:30-34, allowing various areas of our lives to go dormant and waste away. Whichever state we may find ourselves in when we hear God telling us to consider our ways, whether it is one of busyness, laziness, apathy, or fear, know that He has a state of being for us that is more prosperous. A state in which He is honored and prioritized so that the connection and relationship allow for His blessings, guidance, and grace to flow freely toward us.
God has called us to wake up not only to listen and see but to understand what is at stake. When your Spiritual life goes dormant or into ruin, we allow the reserves of all other things to become depleted, which will eventually lead to a lack of resources, hardship, and a range of disappointments in your life.
God calls us into relationship and connection and wants to be our Source for all other outlets in our lives. (Matthew 22:37, Proverbs 3:6, Revelation 3:20, Matthew 6:33, Exodus 20:3-5, and John 15:4-8)
Realizing the importance of the Spirit.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
-1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)
We are spirit, and upon salvation, we house the Spirit of God within us. Everything that manifests tangibly was first sown in the spirit (Hebrews 11:3). Meaning God cultivates in the unseen; we agree and begin walking out in the seen. We need to realize the importance of building up and operating in our spiritual selves. We are spirit and must not grieve or hinder God’s Spirit from leading and guiding us in growth, transformation, and good works. (1 Corinthians 6:17, Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 4:30, and 1 Thessalonians 5:19)
Remain in Me.
Remain in me, as I remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
-John 15:4
The Lord wants us to understand how His Kingdom works so that we can be prosperous in our journey with Him on this earth. We should no longer operate out of our own strength or works of the flesh, while we put forth effort to accomplish things for ourselves or the Kingdom of God. He let us know the secret to being fruitful and prosperous; it is remaining in Him. Staying connected and in relationship with Him so that He can grow, teach, lead, and bless. He loves us and wants us not to be ignorant of how His blessings work. They work in step with honor and connection to Him.
So let us consider our ways, realign ourselves, and recognize the importance of cultivating a relationship with Him as we operate in the Spirit, so that we remain in Him and stay fruitful.
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