Consider your ways

Haggai 1: 5-7

5. Now therefore, thus says the Lord of Hosts, “Consider your ways!”

6. “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”

7. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, “Consider your ways!”

Several months ago, I had an epiphany that if I desire to be a useful instrument in God’s hands, I should be a healthy individual, first and foremost. Therefore, I embarked on a health journey trying to eat foods in a Biblical way. For several years before this epiphany, I have been making significant changes to my diet and exercise regimen but I wasn’t seeing the results. As I learn about Biblical foods, I kept introducing foods that are healthy and tried to get rid of foods that are unhealthy and processed.

There were moments when even a little difference excited me and gave me encouragement to continue on this health journey. However, there were some old habits that were just hard to give up. For example, I just couldn’t give up coffee. Even though, I wasn’t a heavy coffee consumer, I acutely and woefully craved that one cup of coffee in the morning with a handful of pumpkin, raisins and sunflower seeds. I gave up sugar in my coffee several years ago. I even made a dramatic switch from instant coffee to freshly brewed coffee. Where I used to drink 1 large cup of milk with instant coffee stirred in, I changed it up to freshly brewed coffee with just 1/4^th cup of milk.

The verses above gnawed at my spirit. Yes, I am making the changes but I am still not giving up some old habits. Some remnants of the old habits sneak their way back in. The Holy Spirit is asking me to consider my ways. Contextually, Haggai the prophet is asking the exiles who returned to Judea to consider their ways. Here, the Israelites just returned from Babylon, and they built their houses first but ignored the House of God which lay in ruins. They were eager to get into the routine of their lives while ignoring the things of God. They were doing all the right things but not in the right order. They were supposed to rebuild the House of God first and instead were focusing on rebuilding their houses.

All their hard work was misplaced. No wonder they were not seeing the benefits of their labor. In life, we make drastic changes learning from our past mistakes. Nevertheless, in moments of weakness, we tend to reboot our old habits and justify that we are improvising. Our old self constantly reminds us how good it was in the past. As the adage says, ‘Old habits die hard’, we fight hard to give up our old habits. Our new self is in a constant battle with our old self. Who wins depends on our perseverance. We must be in a constant consideration of our ways. With God’s help and our perspective in the right place, we can make progress and be overcomers. Only when we have turned completely away from our old self towards what God intended for us, then we can see the blessings of God pouring down on us.

Whether we are starting our journey or somewhere in the middle or at the end of our journey on this earth, placing God and His Kingdom first puts everything else in its proper place. We don’t need to find excuses to make changes but consider that today is the day of our new self. Old has died and the new has risen. Every day is a blessing from above for us to make those changes. As we make changes to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual journeys, we will see God blessing our efforts. We will become useful instruments in His hands.

Philippians 4: 6-8

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. It is always good to consider God’s ways!