Earth Shattering

We think of diamonds as valuable.

When an expert cuts and polishes the stone he increases both its beauty and its value.

A diamond is also the hardest substance on earth.

Because they are so hard, other diamonds are required for cutting and polishing.

Even with the proper tools and materials, an expert hand and a trained eye are still required.

One incorrect blow and the diamond could shatter.

As we look around, it does not require much effort to see signs of shattering in the nation and the world.

A review of recent political conventions reveals division within each political party.

A review of the national headlines reveals division within communities and races.

A review of international headlines reveals division between nations and cultures.

Each example of division we see is but a symptom of a far bigger problem.

Each example of division we see is like a crack or fissure in the world.

Left unchecked, the cracks and fissures only multiply rendering the world less and less stable.

Eventually, one misplaced blow could cause reality as we know it to simply shatter.

Patching individual cracks and fissures helps, but this does not solve the bigger problem.

We need to do more than treat the symptoms.

We need to treat the disease itself.

We are trying to do things our way rather than His way.

We put God on the back burner or on a shelf.

We might even tell ourselves we will get back to Him when time permits.

That is what the people in Haggai’s day did.

The picture God painted for them is remarkably like our own.

Haggai 1:5-6 (NET) - Here then is what the Lord who rules over all says: ‘Think carefully about what you are doing. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but are never filled. You drink, but are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but are not warm. Those who earn wages end up with holes in their money bags.

God not only deserves to be first in our lives; He demands it.

Haggai 2:15-17 (NET) - Now therefore reflect carefully on the recent past, before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. From that time when one came expecting a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty measures from it, there were only twenty. I struck all the products of your labor with blight, disease, and hail, and yet you brought nothing to me,’ says the Lord.

Time remains.

Let us do what is wise and put God first.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 19, 2016.

I will be back here on Friday, August 26, 2016