Give careful thought to your ways.
—Haggai 1:5
Returned exiles of Babylonian captivity were driven by the excitement of rebuilding the Temple. But after laying the foundation, their enthusiasm faded and Temple work came to a halt. For the next sixteen years they ignored God’s house while building ritzy digs for themselves.
“Is it right for you to be living in fancy houses while the Temple is still in ruins?” bellowed the prophet Haggai.
Hammering home the backlash of their self-centeredness he said: “You have planted much, but you harvest little. You eat, but you do not become full. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but you are not warm enough. You earn money, but then you lose it all as if you had put it into a purse full of holes.”
Nothing you accumulate or achieve will satisfy if you put self before the Savior.
God occupies first place or no place.