Poor Priorities Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Poor Priorities -------------------------- Date: 12/12/2000 Keywords: "priorities" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Haggai 1:6* You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. Question 1. How might this verse describe you or someone you know?   2. When problems occur in your life, do you ever stop to think how they might be a result of moral choices you make in your life.   Practical help This is a really interesting verse from a book of the Old Testament you may not be that familiar with. The prophet Haggai came on the scene following the time of the Babylonian Captivity. This is a low time in the history of Israel that followed the times under Kings David and Solomon when the nation was the envy of the world in terms of wealth and power. But as is often the case, a little time of ease and comfort resulted in the people turning from God. So they lost the land to an outside destructive force. Seventy years later, as God had promised, He opened up the way for His people to return to their land. At the time of Haggai’s ministry, they had been back in the land sixteen years. What was their initial stated aim for returning? To rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (a sign they had decided to put God first in their lives). Yet even after sixteen years they had barely started the work. Instead, the resources God had supplied had been used by the people in the building of their own homes. It’s sure easy to live a life focused on ourselves and our comforts, isn’t it? Pornography is a symptom of such a life. And perhaps like the children of Israel, you were taken captive to pornography or some other addiction, only to be miraculously delivered. But now, after a little time has passed, your miracle has faded, and you wake up to the fact that you are slipping once again. Perhaps you are noticing that things around you seem to be falling apart…again. Stop and consider your stated priorities and what you are actually doing. If there is a disconnect, perhaps God is trying to tell you something. It’s not too late to regroup and start again. Read Haggai, and see how this ancient story turned out. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.