What is My Chief Priority
Haggai
2:6-9 (ESV)
For
thus says the Lord of hosts: “Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake
the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all
nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill
this house with glory,” says the Lord of hosts. “The silver is mine, and the
gold is mine,” declares the Lord of hosts. “The latter glory of this house
shall be greater than the former,” says the Lord of hosts. “And in this place
I will give peace,” declares the Lord of hosts.
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The
book of Haggai was written to those who had returned from Babylonian to rebuild
the destroyed temple of God. It was an encouragement and a call to rebuild
amidst rubble, hope despite desolation, and believe even during times of
hardship and disappointment.
In
verses 6 to 9, Haggai spoke of a time to come when the world would be
shaken up as it had never been shaken before. Ironically, this was intended to
be a comfort for people who were standing in rubble! While this may seem
difficult to understand at first glance, the writer of Hebrews took comfort in
the shaking of this world, as it “indicates the removal of things that are
shaken … in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain
… a kingdom” (Hebrews 12:26-28).
At
the heart of Haggai’s declaration that all of creation (v. 6) and all nations
(v. 7) would be shaken, there is the promise that “the treasures of all nations
shall come in.” “Treasures” is a Hebrew word that can function as a singular or
plural noun. In other words, not only will the treasures of the nations be
brought to the house of God in tribute, but there will also be One, the true
treasure, who fills the house and is to be prized above all the wealth of the world.
For Haggai, it was only when the world was shaken that we could see what really
will stand and which treasures will endure.
When
your world shakes, are you shaken with it, or are you unshakable in spite of
it? When the treasures of your heart disappoint you, does your heart fail, or
does it take hold of the treasure of all nations?
Prayer
Father,
help me to hold onto your unshakable kingdom when my world is being shaken; to
remember that Jesus Christ experienced the earthquake of the cross, so I would
not be moved; and to remember that while treasures in the world may fail, you
are the treasure of all nations. In Christ’s Name, Amen.
From Redeemer Pres. Church
From Redeemer Pres. Church
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