Who’s In First?

I was tempted to title this post, “Who’s on First?” and play around with the famous Abbott and Costello routine since baseball season has just started but decided against it.  I don’t know how many of you have ever read the Old Testament book, Haggai.  It is a very small book, essentially one page in most printed Bibles, but it has an important meaning.  A remnant of God’s people have returned to the promised land to rebuild Jerusalem.  It is a small group, nevertheless their return fulfills what God had foretold.  A big part of their return would be to rebuild the temple which had been destroyed.  The temple was the center of the worship of God.  But God chastises the people in the beginning verses of Haggai because they were paying more attention to building their own houses than to restoring the temple.  God says in verse 4 of chapter 1:  “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”  The obvious answer is “no” and God tells His people to get busy rebuilding the temple.

This got me thinking about how often I put my things first before God’s things.  There are times when I know God would want me to do something but I don’t really want to do it, or I know it’s not going to be as exciting or interesting as something I want to do…or at least that is what I think.  That’s why a lot of people don’t read the Bible and pray in the morning.  There are other things which seem more important to us.  Like the remnant of people who returned to Jerusalem and focused on their houses before God’s house, we can very easily focus on our wants/needs/desires before getting around to what God wants.  However, this is not a good idea.  It is when we put God in first place, that everything else falls into place.  Place God first in your life…you won’t be disappointed in how you finish!