ULOG DAY 23: "CLEANSE YOUR STAINS"

What have I learned on that day? I was assigned as the scripture reader and our topic was about the Haggai 2:10-19. It says:

"Haggai 2:10-19 New International Version (NIV)

Blessings for a Defiled People
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: 11 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: 12 If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”

The priests answered, “No.”

13 Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”

“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”

14 Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.

15 “‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on[a]—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. 16 When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. 17 I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord. 18 ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.

“‘From this day on I will bless you.’”

In this verse, there are two curious questions can be done. First is the perfect sense for Jews. Second is the hundred of laws. The verse also implies that we all struggle to obey God and our fate depends on what we choose whether we curse our destiny to disobey the Lord or we obey the Lord without withdrawing our blessings.

In Haggai 2:12, if a clean person is absorbed into the mud, he is unclean anymore. But this is life, we always struggle to obey the Lord. Whether we like it or not, we make sins. The holy one remains unholy. If we think we are perfect enough by not committing mistakes, were are the holy meat stained.

In verse 13, we can sometimes defile many people like us whose already defiled, or we become defiled according to what we see to someone else who teaches us to crave for material desires and worldly ambitions. One of the problems in defiling ourselves is idolatry. Instead of praising the Lord, we praise the other people we see on social media who looks better than us, talented, and wealthier than us. When the unholy touch the holy, he becomes defiled. Sins stains everything. It stains our family and our lives. It is a contagious disease that humans cannot escape. It is like a virus that is easy to spread compare to holiness.

There is an important application with the "whatever" keyword in verse 14. If there are times that we fade like a flower, we try to stay away from Him. After that, whatever we do can't make Him happy. Whatever we do is always wrong. We may wonder why we experience disasters in our lives because it is His calling to go back to where we belong. Remember that God doesn't want the big house filled with empty hearts. Going back to Him as just a second. There is are no complicated processes to do to gain His approval once again. That shows how unconditional love He has for us because what He needs is our repentance for every wrong thing we did in order to be again granted His favors. He doesn't ask us an animal sacrifice unless it is accompanied with living sacrifice. Holiness is not like spreading the dirt to another person, then he becomes defiled, it cannot be transmitted. It comes from the heart.

Proverbs 4:23 New International Version (NIV)
"23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it."

The verses 15-17 are the reminders of the past. The keyword is "you did not turn to me." There were several mistakes we committed before. We never knew that disobeying the holy book means declining God. Many of us struggle with how to overcome our problems and sometimes complain. The worse, many of us hate God thinking that He punishes us. Some of us also think that there is no God asking why He allows us to experience these sufferings in life. We may ask, "If there is God, why can't He protect His people? Why am I born this way? Why has He given me a disease? I prayed but there's no answer!" The question is, what did you do to make Him happy? How did you cleanse yourself? How did you tie up a strong connection to Him? How did you hold your faith? Let us always remember that God only disciplines us to restore our belief and not to punish us. If you are in a great battle today, be thankful 'coz He has restored you.

In verse 18-19, God confirms that there is always a harvest after our struggles to plant a tree. First, there is always a blessing the moment we obey. It is confirmed by apostle John in 1 John 1:7:

New International Version (NIV)
"7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[a] sin"

Secondly, The harvest will come eventually. Some of us are impatient to wait for the right timing, the reason why sometimes we are halted. We become tempted by the darkness that deceives our minds, entices us the false promises. We are tempted in despair. Remember that the harvest comes in times. What we need to do is to avoid doing things for the Lord in vain. Obeying His words begins to bless our lives.

Galatians 6:9 New International Version (NIV)
"9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Amen.

Disclaimer: Some contexts are taken from the Bible. Content and illustrations are original.