3Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4“Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” 5Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 6“You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” Haggai 1:3-6

The problems God’s people faced in Haggai’s day were really no different from the problems in ours. Working much and ending up with little. Eating and drinking, but never having enough. And no matter how many hours we work or how much money we make, there is always more month at the end of the money.

Haggai was God’s alarm clock sounding to awaken the people from their spiritual slumber. The message: “The reason for your problems is that you are building your own houses to the neglect of the house of God.”

In Haggai’s day the neglected temple was a literal building. The household of God that is neglected today is the church (not the building). As it was in Haggai’s day, so it is today. Many who profess faith in Christ are pouring themselves into their houses to the neglect of the house of God. What houses are we pouring ourselves into to the neglect of the church? For some it is literal houses. Others drain themselves on their careers. Others, trying to raise families make idols out of their children. A complete list would include everything that people could care about—that is allowed to eclipse God in the hustle-bustle busyness of life.

When the alarm sounded to the people of Jerusalem in 520 B.C., they got to work and the temple was built. Whoever has ears, let him hear the alarm that has been ringing ever since Haggai.