Building the Temple

Trivia question: What is the only book in the Old Testament with only 2 chapters?

*Jeopardy music plays in background, giving readers time to think*

Nope, sorry sir, Psalms has waaaayyy more than 2 chapters. But if you guessed Haggai - you're a winner! *Hoorays, cheers, claps, etc. comes from the audience.*

This last week, I found myself reading this little, 2-chapter book written by the minor prophet Haggai during the time of the exile in Babylon. I was quite convicted by these words from chapter 1:

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'This people says, "The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt."'" The the word of the LORD came to Haggai the prophet, saying, "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in paneled houses while this house lies desolate?" . . . "Consider your ways! Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple,that I may be pleased with it and be glorified", says the LORD. "You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?" declares the LORD of hosts, "Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house." (Haggai 1:2-4, 7-9)

The LORD no longer dwells in temples made with human hands (Acts 17:24-25). In fact, as believers, we are the temple of the LORD. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? . . . "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in yo, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (3:16, 6:19).

So my question is this: If the LORD was upset with the Israelites because they were seeking their own comfort within their own homes and if believers are the temple of the LORD -- shouldn't we be seeking to build that temple? Shouldn't we be actively sharing our faith with nonbelievers and investing in the lives of other believers, encouraging both to seek the LORD and grow in Him?

I pray that the LORD would make each and every one of us active builders of His temple. May our own love for Him grow, and may we be intentional about sowing seeds into other's lives as well.