A Bag of Holes 2021 12 19
Haggai 1:5 – 7
A smart dietitian once said that consuming doughnut holes would be a great diet, as they have absolutely no calories (I’m not talking about what used to fill the holes, either!) A wise hunter once told me that deer tracks aren’t very filling, plus they taste like dirt! A hole is something that has no substance and nothing in it; if your bag has holes in it, it will not be filled; if you have a bag of holes, you have a whole lot of nothing!
Haggai 1:5 – 7
In a week it will be Christmas, 2021. Everyone is rushing around, trying to find the perfect gift to impress their friends, loved ones and perhaps, various acquaintances. But long after Christmas is past, many will be trying to pay off their credit cards, while most of the gifts will be quickly forgotten or taken to thrift stores. As 2022 progresses, many of these same people will be trying to prepare for retirement. They will work hard, saving up and investing their money in the hopes that they can have a great retirement. Yet few are preparing for what really matters, being truly ready for eternity! Yet that is one appointment that no one is going to miss!
- Thus saith the LORD – is found 413 times in the Bible!
- When any phrase is found frequently in the Bible, it ought to really grab our attention. To what, or whom, does it refer?
- Consider your ways!
- Think about what you’re doing and why!
- If you work and save and plan carefully for retirement but your harvest is very small, you might be carrying home your crop in a bag of holes! Nothing seems to work.
- What are you doing??
- Consider your ways. Are you even considering the LORD throughout the week?
- Maybe you don’t have enough to eat or not enough variety. Maybe you’re carrying home your groceries in a bag of holes!
- God promises that He will provide you with everything you need, but are you paying attention?
- Are you trusting God?
- Are you honouring God?
- Many who call themselves Christians say they trust God, but they don’t even trust Him enough to tithe!
- Many drink but it doesn’t quench their thirst – it’s never enough – maybe it’s wine and spirits! Their bag is full of holes.
- Drowning your sorrows in drugs like alcohol and others is not the way to have peace. Truly trusting God is.
- Do you trust God? Do you believe what He says? He says that if you believe Him, you will love Him and do what He says. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words…” John 14:23
- Drowning your sorrows in drugs like alcohol and others is not the way to have peace. Truly trusting God is.
- You dress yourself, but you’re not covered enough to stay warm.
- What’s the matter with your clothes? Are they to keep you warm, or are they for fashion, style, and sex appeal, hardly there and full of holes?
- You work for silver and gold, but the bag you store it in is a bag of holes. You are not able to keep anything for all the hard work you do.
- Many Christians wonder why they have such a hard time making ends meet and something always seems to come up when they do save to take away their savings.
- But then they don’t tithe. Their bag is full of holes.
- Many Christians wonder why they have such a hard time making ends meet and something always seems to come up when they do save to take away their savings.
- Thus saith the LORD, again, “Consider your ways.”
- God is telling you to think what you’re doing. What are you doing?
- Do you live to work, or do you work to live?
- Is your life all about work, or is your work all about life?
- God is telling you to think what you’re doing. What are you doing?
- Does your work finance your life, or is your life a slave to work?
- Consider your ways.
- Are you saved? Are you ready for eternity? Are you 100% sure you’re going to heaven?
- Did you tell anyone about eternal life this week?
- Are you working in your own home? Did you talk to your kids about Jesus Christ, today?
- Are you saved? Are you ready for eternity? Are you 100% sure you’re going to heaven?
- Why are you working?
- Do you work because you must, or because you want to?
- Do you work for things or do you do things that work to help others come to faith in Jesus Christ?
- Everything you do is an opportunity to show the love of God in Jesus Christ to those around you.
- Where are you working?
- Are you working on a job site or in an office or around the house for temporary gain, or are you working in the harvest fields of eternity for eternal gain?
- Is your perspective in need of another look? Is your bag full of holes?
- Every place you work is an opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ!
- Are you working on a job site or in an office or around the house for temporary gain, or are you working in the harvest fields of eternity for eternal gain?
- Are you worried about losing your job? Or are you worried about losing what you have and having to go back to work after retirement?
- Every new place you work is a new opportunity to tell others about Jesus Christ!
- What are you working for?
- Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19 – 21
- Parents, are you raising your kids to be model citizens, or citizens that model Jesus Christ?
- Do you want your kids to go to the best schools, or do you want them to go to heaven?
- Are you trying to save money that belongs to God? Are you putting your money in a bag of holes?
- Who are you working for?
- Are you working for God or for gain? “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24
- Are you working for God or for man?
- “With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:” Ephesians 6:7
- “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians 3:23
- Working for man will disappoint you. Some men will send you home with a bag of holes, but God will never disappoint you. When you work for God, your rewards are eternal and bountiful.
Conclusion
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways.” Consider or think about what your motivation in life is, right now, and put God first in everything. Putting anything or anyone ahead of God is like trying to carry home your hard-earned wages in a bag of holes. It is pointless and worthless, and you will have nothing to show in the end. Solomon wrote regarding all the things of this world, “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2. This same preacher gave these words of advice at the end of the book, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;” Ecclesiastes 12:1. Remember your Creator NOW, trust Him NOW, put Him first NOW. Psalm 128:1,2 says “Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.” Thus saith the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways.”