WHY? WHY NOT!

Once upon a time, there was a group of people, a family really, who came home.  They had been away a long time, and hadn't been able to return home, but now they managed to do just that.  They came back to a house that had, in their absence, been destroyed.  Distraught, they started talking about rebuilding it, but then, mostly because of opposition, never got around to it.  In fact, they even started saying that they really didn't think it was time to build the house - why, who knows!  Anyhow, I digress... After a while, one of the group decided that enough was enough, that it was time to do something about the house.  He talked to his boss, and his boss had a message for the rest of the family - do it!  Yup, pretty simple, really - get to work and do it!  And because they respected this man's boss, they did get to work, and they did build it.  The boss was so pleased that he helped them out by making things good for them again.  The people were happy, the boss was happy, and they all lived happily ever after...

Okay, maybe that last line is going a bit far, but certainly they lived better than they had.  You see, it was important that they realize what was important, as well as what was important to do.  Sitting around, knowing something needs to be done but doing nothing but talking about it and then trying to justify it by saying perhaps it didn't really need to be done in the first place - well, not a boss-pleasing thing, is it!

The people?  The Jews who had just returned from exile in Babylon. 
The house?  The temple in Jerusalem, destroyed years earlier.
The boss?  God!
The messenger?  Haggai, the prophet.

READ:  Haggai 1-2

Two short chapters, one huge task, one messenger, and one divine message - GET TO WORK!  God spoke to the Jews then, and He still speaks to us today.  Lethargy, apathy, and any other word ending in 'y' that is the opposite of doing something just doesn't cut it with God - His will is for us to do His work in His world, not doing whatever we wish to do or even doing nothing.  DO IT!  This is God speaking... are you listening?  If so, what will you do now?  Because, don't you know, it's time to GET TO WORK!  Don't sit back and ask 'why?' - get off your... well, you know... and move from 'why?' to WHY NOT!  Amen!