A Ceiled House

Quite an expanse of ceiling in this graphic. Haggai wrote about ceiled houses:

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? (Haggai 1:4 KJV)

Only two chapters, this very short book is a message to God’s people that they have been selfishly looking out for themselves, ignoring God’s house.

Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:5-7 KJV)

Think about it – God pretty much says that twice here. For all the work they’ve done, there is very little return. Think about it.

Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. (Haggai 1:9 KJV)

There were few who would remember how the temple appeared when it looked its best. The progression of time doesn’t always bring progress in other ways. In our own time we can look at Detroit as an example of how quickly things of beauty can be destroyed when they are no longer maintained, when they are ignored and looted.

So was the temple Solomon had built to honor God. The people rebuilt their lives, spent time rebuilding their homes, created ceilings for protection from the elements but ignored God’s house.

So – is their a ceiling over your head? There is over mine. No leaks, and I’m very grateful for that.

There’s a ceiling in our house of worship, too, though it will never come close to the glory of Jerusalem’s. It does offer us protection from the elements when we gather to show our devotion to our Lord and to learn more of Him through His word.

That’s very important to me. I truly enjoy the opportunities to learn more about God, His relationship to mankind and applications in His word to our daily lives.

Someone asked me one time why we attended evening services. “You can’t have sinned enough to need to be there, can you?” Oh, my – I don’t go to church because I’ve been bad. I don’t go to church to get to be good, either.

I go to church services to worship God. I want my words and my actions to reflect His love for this world He created. I want to grow in faith and in service to accomplish these goals. He’s given me tools to help:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 KJV)

There are promises in His word that apply to people of faith:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

Doesn’t sound like it’s so difficult, does it? Come to His house today, hear His word, believe that He is and hear the promises. I’ll be in one this Sunday morning, please join us.