Hag 1:9 | KingComments | STEP | In what God says here, you can hear how much it touches Him that His people ignore Him. He does not talk about their weak condition or the poor temple compared to that of Solomon. He talks about their indifference, their lack of interest in Him and His house. The disappointing results are a disciplinary action of God for failing to rebuild His house. The importance of God’s house has been supplanted by the importance of their own houses. Instead of making an effort for God’s house that lies “desolate”, they are devoting themselves to their own homes. When it comes to God’s house, they are not engaged in any activity. But as soon as it concerns their own house, they are full of action, they run for it. The word ‘run’ expresses the zeal with which they pursue their own interests. It is remarkable how much energy is put into realizing one’s own plans that serve to increase laziness, while there are complaints that there is so little time for the Lord’s things. Lack of zeal and love for the house of God, that is the church of the living God, often goes hand in hand with a lot of dedication and care for our own convenience. There is time and there are resources in abundance for things that have no lasting use. In comparison, we see how difficult it is sometimes to make time for meetings and how little is sometimes contributed financially or in other ways to the work of the Lord. Once the conscience is addressed, that changes. There is a great contrast between “My house” and “each … his own house”. In the ‘own house’ we can see religious groups that are arranged according to their own ideas. People want to be able to recognize themselves in it and feel at home there. Whether or not God feels ‘at home’ plays no role. We hear the expression ‘his own house’ also when a pastor speaks about ‘my church’. There is only one Person who has the right to speak about ‘My church’ ( ). That is He to Whom the church belongs, because He bought her with the price of His blood ( ).

‏ Haggai 1:9

Egoism Blocks Blessing

In what God says here, you can hear how much it touches Him that His people ignore Him. He does not talk about their weak condition or the poor temple compared to that of Solomon. He talks about their indifference, their lack of interest in Him and His house.

The disappointing results are a disciplinary action of God for failing to rebuild His house. The importance of God’s house has been supplanted by the importance of their own houses. Instead of making an effort for God’s house that lies “desolate”, they are devoting themselves to their own homes. When it comes to God’s house, they are not engaged in any activity. But as soon as it concerns their own house, they are full of action, they run for it.

The word ‘run’ expresses the zeal with which they pursue their own interests. It is remarkable how much energy is put into realizing one’s own plans that serve to increase laziness, while there are complaints that there is so little time for the Lord’s things. Lack of zeal and love for the house of God, that is the church of the living God, often goes hand in hand with a lot of dedication and care for our own convenience.

There is time and there are resources in abundance for things that have no lasting use. In comparison, we see how difficult it is sometimes to make time for meetings and how little is sometimes contributed financially or in other ways to the work of the Lord. Once the conscience is addressed, that changes.

There is a great contrast between “My house” and “each … his own house”. In the ‘own house’ we can see religious groups that are arranged according to their own ideas. People want to be able to recognize themselves in it and feel at home there. Whether or not God feels ‘at home’ plays no role. We hear the expression ‘his own house’ also when a pastor speaks about ‘my church’. There is only one Person who has the right to speak about ‘My church’ (Mt 16:18). That is He to Whom the church belongs, because He bought her with the price of His blood (Acts 20:28).