Reading for today
Old Testament: Zephaniah 3, Haggai 1, 2, Zechariah 1
Thoughts from today’s reading
Haggai 1:1-9. The Lord rebukes the children of Israel for their selfishness because everyone only showed interest in what they wanted and they worked solely for their own comfort, neglecting the temple of God. The temple represented the presence of God among them, but it also represented their community of faith, so neglecting it was not only neglecting the Lord, but also neglecting others. Remember that we are called to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
Prayer
1. Lord, thank you that you remind us through your word that we are not here to live for ourselves alone, and we have a part to play in advancing your kingdom here on earth. You show us in the New Testament, that we are your temple and each of us are like stones which are joined one to another to build up a spiritual house (1 Corinthians 3:9-16, Ephesians 2:21 , 1 Peter 2:5), a community of faith. We pray for the grace to be generous with our time and resources in helping others and building the kingdom of God here on earth. We pray for strength to keep gathering together with other believers to worship the Lord and encourage one another. We throw off every desire to isolate ourselves from the people of God and to focus on ourselves only. We put to death all forms of selfishness and self-seeking, and we take on the garments of love, care and service of others. Thank you Lord for hearing us and helping us accomplish these things in Jesus name, amen.