ESOCS Devotional 30 September 2026 – Consider Your Ways
MEMORY VERSE: “Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.” (HAGGAI 1:5 KJV).
TEXT: HAGGAI 1: 1 – 11
In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ’ ”
3 Then 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?” 5 Now 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.”
7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the [b]temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. 10 Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. 11 For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
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Haggai called the people of God to give careful thought to their ways. The Lord wanted the people to consider why they were never satisfied. Even though they worked hard the fields, they seemed to produce less. God had allowed a drought and He withheld His blessings because the people were not focused on spiritual things. They were concerned more about what they wanted, rather than what God was calling them to do.
They did not see the need to rebuild the temple of God. They had become spiritually blind. They had forgotten about God and yet God was opening the door to fulfill His promise and reaffirm his covenant with the Israelites who would worship the Lord with all their hearts.
God used the Prophet Haggai to confront his people who had strayed spiritually. The enemy will always try to stop a spiritual revival; and that is what was happening regarding the decree to stop the rebuilding of the temple.
In the same way as the remnant of Israel drifted from God, we are all at risk of accidentally drifting slowly away from God, not even realizing how far we’ve gone.
I believe the Lord is calling each of us to focus on the spiritual things in life. The enemy will get you to focus on all the wrong things and trick you into thinking that all you need to do is work hard, longer, faster. But you’ll never be satisfied with that. You’ll always want more. You’ll lose peace of mind. One day you could wake up and wonder “how did I get here?”
We must not tell God that his work and his priority can wait. We cannot deal with God eventually. We must not put off our spiritual commitments. We have been called to work in his kingdom and give him the glory. We are called to make his priority our priority. God will not wait for us to come around to him eventually. It is never an opportune time to do God’s work. Do not put him off in your life any longer. Consider your ways. Consider where you are.
Is God showing you that you need to turn back to him because there is great emptiness in your life? We hold ourselves back from lasting joy and true satisfaction because we do not consider our ways, refocus our lives, and restart on our spiritual work for the Lord. Is it time for us to be living in our paneled houses while the work of the Lord remains desolate?
If you want to have a better year this year than you did last year, put the Lord first. Follow Him with all your heart. God will bless you when you heed His Word. God will bless our nation when we – His people – live for Him.
Challenges:
- Are you focused on spiritual things or are you focused on your own desires?
- Are you focused on possessions and pleasures or on the things of God?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to consider our ways and to choose to love and obey all your instructions that it may be well with us in Jesus name.
FURTHER READING:
Matthew 13: 10 – 23; 2 Kings 2: 1 – 11; 2 Corinthians 1: 1 – 12
ESOCS Devotional 30 September 2026
