A PURSE WITH HOLES IN IT
You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. Haggai 1:6, N.I.V.
"Where does all the money go! You'd think there were holes in my pockets!" complained the young husband to his despairing wife. "We've got to learn to manage our finances better."
It's an area in which most of us could do better. However, all the techniques of the world will not bring budgetary success without God's blessings. Israel, in the days of King Darius, was having monetary problems. God spoke to them through the prophet Haggai, "Give careful thought to your ways. 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" (Haggai 1:5, 6, N.I.V.).
The house of the Lord was in ruins, but God's people were busy making nice homes for themselves and seeking financial gain. They kept saying, "The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built" (verse 2, N.I.V.). What they were really saying was that they did not want to part with any of their profits. They wanted to prosper themselves, even if it meant leaving their place of worship in shambles. Their selfishness revealed their lack of commitment to God. In leaving the Temple in ruins when repairs were possible, they were acting out their inner contentment with a broken relationship with the Almighty.
When we are out of relationship with God, we are out of tune with reality. Our lives cannot reap the results of right thinking because man, left on his own, is limited in his ability to make valid decisions. Consequently, the natural results of right thinking are thwarted. In Biblical language, God "withholds" His blessings. In actuality, God is committed to teaching us how to live accountably within the boundaries of cause and effect. This leads Him to allow us to experience deficit and need, rather than interfere as we might wish He would. Yet we hear His tender and earnest voice from heaven: "Give careful thought to your ways." Do not be irrational in your analysis of what is really happening.
When we make God the center of our lives, we have access to His vast wisdom. He speaks His mysteries to us personally. He "blesses" us; we experience the inherent benefits that surround an expanded reality, a reality of friendship with the Father.
You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. Haggai 1:6, N.I.V.
"Where does all the money go! You'd think there were holes in my pockets!" complained the young husband to his despairing wife. "We've got to learn to manage our finances better."
It's an area in which most of us could do better. However, all the techniques of the world will not bring budgetary success without God's blessings. Israel, in the days of King Darius, was having monetary problems. God spoke to them through the prophet Haggai, "Give careful thought to your ways. 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" (Haggai 1:5, 6, N.I.V.).
The house of the Lord was in ruins, but God's people were busy making nice homes for themselves and seeking financial gain. They kept saying, "The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built" (verse 2, N.I.V.). What they were really saying was that they did not want to part with any of their profits. They wanted to prosper themselves, even if it meant leaving their place of worship in shambles. Their selfishness revealed their lack of commitment to God. In leaving the Temple in ruins when repairs were possible, they were acting out their inner contentment with a broken relationship with the Almighty.
When we are out of relationship with God, we are out of tune with reality. Our lives cannot reap the results of right thinking because man, left on his own, is limited in his ability to make valid decisions. Consequently, the natural results of right thinking are thwarted. In Biblical language, God "withholds" His blessings. In actuality, God is committed to teaching us how to live accountably within the boundaries of cause and effect. This leads Him to allow us to experience deficit and need, rather than interfere as we might wish He would. Yet we hear His tender and earnest voice from heaven: "Give careful thought to your ways." Do not be irrational in your analysis of what is really happening.
When we make God the center of our lives, we have access to His vast wisdom. He speaks His mysteries to us personally. He "blesses" us; we experience the inherent benefits that surround an expanded reality, a reality of friendship with the Father.
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