Consider Your Ways

This reflection is based on today’s reading from the Book of the Prophet Haggai (1:1-8)

We live in a materialistic world today.  Enough is never enough.  More than enough is never enough!  But this is nothing new.  This was the state of affairs in Judah 2,500 years ago.  It’s not as if the people of Judah didn’t have what they needed.  But instead of seeking after the Lord’s house, they were only concerned with their own.  Instead of looking to the Lord’s will, they were only concerned with their own.  As a result, they were never really satisfied.

How should God have dealt with ancient Judah, so mired in me-centered materialism?  How should God deal with us when the concerns of His house are at the bottom of our priority list, or when our spiritual houses are not in order because we are more concerned about our own house than God’s house?

The answer is simply this: God says, “Consider your ways.” To the Hebrews, the heart was thought to be the place where you did your careful and serious thinking.  God saw what they were ignoring.  He saw the greed and selfishness that put their wants before God’s commands. 

That’s why God wanted their hearts to do some serious thinking.  And a part of that serious thinking should have been listening to the One who was talking to them.

I’d like us to remember all that the Lord has done for us.  Remember God’s repeated promises of forgiveness and mercy because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Remember the tangible way God comforts and forgives us in the Eucharist.  Remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All God asks is that we consider our ways; to do some heart-felt thinking, to put God first in our lives, and to take the time to pray and listen so that we can hear His voice. Now is the time to spend time with Jesus. He is waiting!