The church in ruins

31 March 2011

Haggai 1:9 You have looked for much, and, lo, 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 lies in ruins, while you busy yourselves each with his own house.

So often one comes across people who are struggling in life, even though they seem on the outside to be so successful, they live in nice homes, drive nice cars, yet they are like hamsters on a tread mill, all they seem to do is never enough. They never have enough money, enough time, enough love, enough of anything, that which they have seems to be blown away at the first wind of crisis. When the churches roof is leaking, and the walls are cracked and need of paint, when the garden is uncared for and the pew cushions stained, who cares? When we give our hand-me downs to the church with old curtains, and the things we do not have use for any more, we seem to think this is charity and we are pleasing God.

We drive past neglected churches, dying landmarks to our parents generation, without a care for what we see and then we wander why we never have enough and to spare. Yet when we want a funeral or a church baptism, or ego boosting experience, we will use it, look at its shabbiness, and just carry on regardless.  So many people reject the church and have weddings in commercial venues to avoid being in the House of God, the go to funeral parlours because they have no relationship with a church and possibly God, and baptism is ignored because they need to keep an open mind. In all of this they have the mentality of a hamster which seems to be content on the tread mill of life, knowing no better.

This is so sad, a tragedy really that so many people choose to live life that way, who believe that the life they choose with no time for anything is their only choice. They believe the lie that they can ignore God and prosper. This may work for a little while until the hamster wheel breaks and they realise that all they have done was to chase the wind.

Be encouraged to care for God’s house more than you care for your own.

David

Point to ponder: God’s house lies in ruins.

Question to consider: When last did you fix  or clean something in the church you attend?