Who's On First?

It just occurred to me that I should have named my blog A Week in the Life, since I don't seem to be able to write every day. The business of life seems to order my day, unfortunately. I wonder just how much of my day is orchestrated by me and how much by God. I'd say the scales are pretty heavily weighted towards me most of the time.

I'm discipling a dear friend and the last couple of weeks we've been doing an Inductive Bible Study on Haggai chapter 1. Haggai isn't one of those books I turn to often and when I started looking for an appropriate book to study, I didn't remember anything significant about it. But as I looked through my new handy, dandy Bible reference book, The Compact Guide to the Christian Life, looking for a good book to study, it became clear this would be a great book. BTW, you can download the manuscript version off our church website.

We began a journey to discover why sometimes we are on a treadmill, putting one foot in front of the other, thinking we're making progress, but we really don't get anywhere. We're working, getting a house, fixing up the house, planting seeds in different fields but our yield is half of what it should be. We're working, but not prospering. Why is that? In Haggai the people were preoccupied with their life and the things of this world as God called them to work on His temple. As they ignored the call, God sent drought and other difficulties. Once they saw the importance of putting God first and repented, God stirred their hearts and said He would be with them.

I've personally experienced a Christian life when God wasn't first and when He was. What a difference! Barely getting by vs. a cup that overflows and great joy. He's first if we're obeying him and blesings come as a result.