Not until we fly

Bible Exposition 1 - Haggai 1:1-15

In Run with the Horses, Eugene Peterson tells how he saw a family of birds teaching their young to fly. Three young swallows were perched on a dead branch that stretched out over a lake.

“One adult swallow got alongside the chicks and started shoving them out toward the end of the branch---pushing, pushing, pushing. The end one fell off. Somewhere between the branch and the water four feet below, the wings started working, and the fledgling was of on his own. Then the second one.

“The third was not to be bullied. At the last possible moment his grip on the branch loosened just enough so that he swung downward, then tightened again, bulldog tenacious. The parent was without sentiment. He pecked at the desperately clinging talons until it was more painful for the poor chick to hang on than risk the insecurities of flying. The grip was released, and the inexperienced wings began pumping. The mature swallow knew what the chick did not---that it would fly---that there was no danger in making it do what it was perfectly designed to do.

“Birds have feet and can walk. Birds have talons and can grasp a branch securely. They can walk; they can cling. But flying is their characteristic action, and not until they fly are they living at their best, gracefully and beautifully. 


God has designed us to fly, both individually and as a community. We are uniquely gifted, and I believe our calling is to discern how we can use our gifts in service to others. As a church comprised of uniquely gifted people, how can we be a blessing in our community? How can we use our gifts to be of service to God? How can we live at our best, gracefully and beautifully?


Do we seek to glorify God? 


Do we seeks to put God first in everything?




What's the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy HIM forever.


Knowledge is never equivalent with practise. While it's so easy to say yeah we should put God first, do we? Look at people in Haggai's time. They build their own house first and then forgot all about God's house and said it's not time yet to rebuild the Temple. 


The repeating verse in chapter 1 verse 1-15 is "Give careful thought to your ways..."    


v6: You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”


Haggai condemned them for living in their paneled houses. We can see that they had become consumed with earthly things. The question we need to ask is - have we?