Priorities in Focus: Give Careful Thought to Your Ways
A conversation on Haggai
Happy 2025! A new year, and a new series of conversations here in our Sunday conversations. We will be starting off 2025 processing the book of Haggai. Then, in February we will start walking through the book of Isaiah.
Haggai, in a word, is a call for healthy priorities. In a sentence, it’s “Give careful thought to your ways—it matters.” It is easy to get distracted. But here is a call to remember—to see—you are an important part of God’s plan, so give careful thought to your ways! Haggai is a great thing to process at the beginning of a new year and/or a new season.
Today we will hear the prophet say that God is calling us to “Give careful thought to your ways.”
Haggai is a super-short book in the Old Testament. It takes place after the exile, as people are returning to Jerusalem.
Backing up further, the Hebrew prophets had, for centuries, called the Israelites to have relationship with God; to follow Him and turn from idolatry and injustice; to worship God and God only. But for generations—for centuries—there was a spiral away from that connection or relationship. Something had to change… but it didn’t. There had been repeated warnings about being taken into exile, and it finally happened. The Babylonians in 587 B.C. destroyed Jerusalem and took the people into exile.
This is a very simplistic explanation of something that is a huge piece of the Old Testament text. But even at the bottom of this experience, it wasn’t over. There was always hope that God would bring back a transformed remnant of His people. The words in Jeremiah 29 were written to this hope, to the people in exile:
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:10-14)
This declaration was a treasure. Hope was not lost! It was not the end of the story!
Now 70 years later (520 BC), the Babylonian empire has collapsed, and something almost unthinkable happens:
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them. And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.
Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. (Ezra 1:1-8)
The Lord moved in Cyrus, the King of Persia, and he allowed anyone to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. He not only made provision for resources for this project, but he also returned all the things that had been looted from the temple. This was HUGE! Just like Jeremiah had said—it was happening!
Now here is the call of Haggai: God’s promised plan is happening, so don’t get distracted! Don’t get distracted! Even while walking in God’s plan, “give careful thought to your ways.”
This is GOLD for us—for me—for today.
Before we process text from Haggai, let's build some foundation to connect us with what we are processing today and with each other.
Imagine that for Christmas, you received a $200 Visa gift card. I am going to give you 60 seconds to think about what you are going to do with it before we talk about it. What would you do with a $200 Visa Gift Card? One thing? Several things? Responsible things? Frivolous things?
Here is one possible plan:
Household supplies from Target so I can clean up a little before my company arrives - $26.99
Two Nordic Lattes from Corner Coffee - $14
Breakfast for two at Ideal Dinner - $22.87
A dozen roses from CUB - $15.94
A pack of ribeye steaks from CUB while you are there - $24.99
Marinade for that steak from CUB - $3.99
Sides for this yummy meal from CUB - $18.99
Two movie tickets with soda and popcorn at the AMC - $67.99
Pack of gum from Holiday - $3.99
Total: $199.76. (And then of course you throw away the gift card, because when would you use a gift card for $0.24?)
Now it’s your turn. Talk about your plans for a moment.
What would you do with your $200 gift card?
I’m betting that we didn’t all have the same uses for our $200. Isn’t it crazy how we all were different? If there was one good use, wouldn’t we all have the same? But it’s more complicated than that.
Let’s talk about what is going on on the inside when we are determining our priorities. Go deep in this and talk out the internal process.
What goes into a person’s determining of his or her priorities?
Your answers might have included logic, emotion, desire, and/or obligation…
Now, it seems like priorities should be simple. Be healthy. Be a good parent. Be a good employee. Have good boundaries. Build connection with others. Build connection with God. Learn. Grow. Invest in others. Save for the future. Priorities should be simple, but they aren’t.
Why isn't it easy to have “good” priorities?
Why isn’t it easy to maintain “good” priorities?
So we come to Haggai. In 539 BCE, Cyrus issued a proclamation allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (recorded in Ezra 1:1-4). This decree was extended to all Jewish exiles in the Persian Empire, giving them the freedom to go back to their homeland if they wished.
Who returned? Here are some of the leaders and key figures. Zerubbabel was a descendant of King David, and he led the first wave of exiles back to Judah (Ezra 2). Joshua (Jeshua) was the high priest who worked alongside Zerubbabel. Many priests, Levites, and temple servants who were involved in religious practices returned to restore worship in the Temple. And many laypeople also returned—common people, including families and heads of households, who went back to rebuild their homes and the community. But many didn’t return, like Esther and Mordecai.
There were a number of reasons why people would choose one way or the other. Many felt a strong spiritual obligation to return and participate in the restoration of the Temple and Jerusalem. Some stayed in Babylon or other parts of the Persian Empire because they had established lives, families, or businesses. And of course, the journey back to Judah was long and arduous, making it challenging for the elderly or infirm.
So we pick up the first words of Haggai:
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 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.” (Haggai 1:2-6)
The people were saying that it wasn’t time to rebuild the house of the Lord—the temple—but it was time to build their fine houses. The prophet said that GOD was saying, “Give careful thought to your ways.” Think about your priorities!
The premise of this whole short book is a call to give attention to priorities. They were back (from exile). There was a lot of work to do. There was hope in a new era. Now it was time to give attention to priorities and not get distracted.
The people returned to Jerusalem from living in exile and found the city in ruins—homes, infrastructure, the temple. They knew the priority—the call—the opportunity was to rebuild the temple, but…
Why do you think it was easy for the people in this moment to prioritize their homes over the temple?
What is the difference between ‘prioritizing things outside of self’ and ‘neglecting self’?
Here is the thing about priorities: just because someone’s priorities are “off” doesn’t mean they are doing bad things. Sit with that for a moment.
The prophet Haggai calls for an action:
Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.” (Haggai 1:5)
This call of Haggai reminds me of Jesus, who brought up “careful thought” a few times in the gospels. Here are just three examples.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:25-34)
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:32-34)
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
Seek first. Invest in heaven. Choose what is better. Jesus is continually bringing “careful thought to your ways.”
I am going to give you time to work on this:
What quantifies careful thought to your ways?
What is the impact of giving careful thought to your ways?
I love Paul's words about the temple:
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)
We are the temple of the Lord!
Today we have processed what we would do with $200, the complexity of priorities, and the complexity of rationalization and priorities. We have put some of Jesus’ words on priorities on the table. We saw how Haggai calls for a prioritization of the temple and how Paul declares that we are the dwelling place.
After Haggai says give it careful thought, he says that there is impact—even supernatural impact.
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.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. (Haggai 1:6-8)
What surfaces now as you give some careful thought to your ways?
Take It Deeper Questions
Read Haggai 1.
What is enjoyable and painful in moving?
What are some of your priorities for 2025?
How do you determine your priorities?
How does Haggai’s call for “careful thought” give you pause, direction, and/or focus in setting priorities?
How will living out these priorities impact who you are, not just what you do?
How are you challenged, focused, encouraged, and/or confused by this text?
Bible Reading Plan
Haggai 1
Haggai 2
Matthew 5
Luke 10
Luke 12
Ephesians 2