Haggai 1:5 (ESV)
⁵ Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.

The Jews spent 70 years in captivity because they refused to obey God. When they were allowed by God to return home, only a remnant did so. Some of the Jews grew comfortable in a foreign land and opted to stay there. The ones who returned did so knew it was what God wanted them to do. They knew they could serve God better in the land that God had given them. This remnant of God’s people learned from their mistakes and were now ready to serve God.

Sadly, after a while, God’s people lost their way again. Upon returning home, their job was to rebuild God’s house (Ezra 1:1-3). While they began to do just as the LORD commanded, they soon stopped. If you know the history, you might have some sympathy for them, realizing that the impetus for them stopping was persecution. That, however, was not the reason for them staying off course. The reason they never restarted the process of building God’s house, God’s house, even after it was safe to do so, was simply because their priorities got mixed up. They began to put their desires before God’s. The instruction from the Lord in Haggai 1:5 was made in light of this background. The Israelites needed to stop and consider their ways.

This is good advice for all of us. We all need to consider our ways from time to time. We need to examine ourselves once in a while to make sure that we are still on the right track.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)
⁵ Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Are you walking in the faith? You do not want to fail the test, do you? To make sure that we are in the faith, living a God-approved life, we must examine ourselves regularly. It is easy to do what the Jews did in the days of Haggai. Putting our desires before God’s is something that we probably do more often than we realize. It is really not that hard to do. It takes a diligent effort to al-ways put God first, but that is what is required to please Him (Matthew 6:33).

What are some things about us that we need to consider? Outside of our priorities, we should consider our overall faithfulness to God. Consider your attendance. Do you attend all the services of the saints? How are you when a gospel meeting rolls around? Do to support the meeting every night? If you are not faithful in your attendance, you are not faithful. Consider your ways.

Do you control your tongue? We know the tongue cannot be tamed (James 3:7-8), but it can be controlled. It takes effort and determination, but by always being careful, we can avoid saying things to others that will be displeasing to God. Because we can misuse the tongue without even realizing it sometimes, we all need to consider our ways when it comes to how we speak to others.

I think you get the point of this blog. We should consider everything about how we are living, from the clothes we wear, to what we watch on TV, to how we treat our fellowman. The Lord’s instruction to the Jews was very practical. They got off track and did not realize it. We can do the same. Let us all consider our ways.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.