Passage Read: Haggai 1 - Zechariah 2
Meditation Verses: Haggai 1:12-14
Thought
The Lord does not say "I am with you" out of the blue or just because He chooses to adopt the people, but He says this in response to their obedience. He sends Haggai to tell them to start working on the temple, and they decide to obey the message and start the work. At that point, God says, "I am with you." And the Lord stirred up the people and they began to work. The Lord is not with us because He chooses us, but because we choose to obey Him. And when we choose to obey Him, He steps in and stirs us up to make good on our commitment.
Application
The Lord is not with me because I believe Jesus is His Son and Savior of the world. Even the demons know who Jesus is, but God is not with them. The Lord is with me because I recognize who Jesus is and act appropriately on that knowledge. He is the Son of God, so I humble myself before Him and do what He says. He died to save me, that moves me to serve Him with gratitude and great joy. He rose to life again! That gives me hope that I too will live again, that there is a greater world and reward beyond this day, something truly worth living for! All of these truths teach me to live in ever more perfect obedience to Christ and not for the pleasures or priorities of this world. That's when the Lord assures me that He is with me, and then He stirs up my spirit to make good on my commitment to serve Him.