NISAN 4
Consider
And now, thus said יהוה of hosts, “Consider your ways!” (Hag 1:5)
Worth mentioning is the fact that this phrase –
“Consider your ways” – is mentioned twice in this first chapter of Haggai. We know from the Scriptures that by “the
mouth of two or more witnesses every matter is established” (Deu 19:15);
therefore, we can surmise that with this phrase being mentioned twice within
three verses places a ‘red-flag’ of importance on it.
Noah Webster defines ‘consider’ as “To fix the mind on, with a view to a CAREFUL EXAMINATION; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on”[1] (emphasis mine). In other words, our full and complete attention should be upon that which is under consideration, examining it closely, and gleaning everything possible from our examination. And what are we to study and consider? Our ways …
The Hebrew word that has been translated as ‘ways’ in our opening verse is the word derek (Strong’s H1870), and while it does mean a road, or a path, it also means the direction in which one is travelling, or a way of living and acting. I believe it would be safe to include our ‘lifestyle’ in this meaning. Combining the two thoughts together, we are to closely examine, give our full attention to the how we are living out our lives, or, our lifestyle.
Do my ways please my Father? Am I living my life in such a manner that brings honor and esteem to my Creator? Am I His ambassador, representing all that He is (Eph 6:20)? Do I ‘let my light shine before men, that all would see, and praise my Father’? (Mat 5:16)
Or have I reached the place where I no longer care anything about to whom I belong, or who actually sees what I am doing?
“If they were wise, They
would understand this, They would consider their latter end!” (Deu 32:29)
©2022
[1]American
Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828
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