Our texts of devotion are taking from Haggai 1 verses 8 to 11 and it reads:

[8] Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

[9] Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

[10] Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

[11] And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

MESSAGE

    A few years ago, there was a social media storm surrounding the Christian duty of giving to God. As was to be expected, given the freedom that social media offers, everyone chimed in, and there were many opinions. One idea that seemed to have gained considerable traction was the substituting of giving to God's cause with giving to charitable causes. The protagonists argued for taking care of the pecuniary needs of society's down-and-outers to the total neglect of the Church's ministry of evangelism, which unknown to them, catered for man's spiritual needs and his immortal soul.

    The idea of having to make a mandatory choice between going hungry and going to hell is not found anywhere in God's word. How could anyone rightly substitute ardent love for God with fervent love for their fellow men, and vice versa? US billionaire John D. Rockefeller, if he were still alive, would have been amused by the absurdity of juxtaposing necessary social action with the spiritual duty of tithing. The American gave to God's house and cared for fellow men with equal passion, both virtues stemming from his understanding of the Christian as a steward.

    God had sent Prophet Haggai with words of fierce rebuke to the returning captives of Israel. He expected them to reciprocate His favour of granting them restoration back to their homeland, after long years of captivity. One way they were expected to do this was in rebuilding the temple and inaugurating regular worship. Instead, they were keen on reconstructing their own estates while God's house remained desolate and in ruins. No one among them seemed to have noticed the incongruence between their most strenuous efforts at financial sufficiency and the meagre resources they garnered. They were, therefore, in a double jeopardy of spiritual and material destitution, though oblivious of the fact. Concentrating all our energy on material pursuits to the neglect of heaven's demands could bring us to the same fate as Israel's in the days of Haggai.

    God, however, laced His rebuke with words of encouragement to the returnees. There was hope yet if they repented and did the right thing. Honouring God with your resources opens His treasure-house of blessings into your life.