September 24, 2015 - Thursday

Now thus says the LORD of hosts:
Reflect on your experience!
You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
You have drunk, but have not become intoxicated;
you have clothed yourselves, but have not been warmed;
And the hired worker labors for a bag full of holes. (Haggai 1:5-6 NABRE)

In context, after returning from exile in Babylon, the survivors of Judah should have been rebuilding the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. The prophet Haggai even connects their well being to their work on the ruined building, yet they had stopped working on the restoration.*

There is a message in today's passage which is just as relevant today. We--who call ourselves people of God--should look at the way we--who have been given many blessings--decide to live our lives. We should be about the work God has for us and subordinate to it our pursuit of the satisfactions of this life.

We are called to tell others about God and encourage them to have faith, to believe, and to trust him. We ought to work first for God, not for the fleeting things and experiences of this world.


Today, I will reflect on my experience to see if I seek my satisfaction and contentment by turning people to the Lord.


Blessed John Henry Newman, who wrote, "I have a mission; I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons; He has not created me for naught.," pray for us.