Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Is it time for you yourselves to live in your [expensive] paneled houses while this house [of the Lord] lies in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct! You have planted much, but you harvest little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have enough to be intoxicated; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns wages earns them just to put them in a bag with holes in it [because God has withheld His blessing].” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct! Go up to the hill country, bring lumber and rebuild My house (temple), that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord [accepting it as done for My glory]. “You look for much [harvest], but it comes to little; and even when you bring that home, I blow it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house, which lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house [eager to enjoy it].” Haggai‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭9‬ ‭AMP‬‬

As I consider my ways and thoughtfully reflect on my conduct, I am assured that Jesus came to rebuild the temple. Our bodies are the temple, created to house His Spirit and be united with Him perfectly, sharing in Life. (Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body. -1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

I reread the prophets of old, and I realize how the human problem has always been the same: we plant, we store, we drink, we eat, and we are always empty because the things we chase are not Everlasting. He is the Prize: Love, Eternal Life, Hope, Perfect Goodness… all the nourishment we could ever want or need, overflowing. Instead we feed self, our own house, our own way and are left empty – we leave God out, and we remain empty. So He rebuilds, and in the Old Testament (covenant-promise), we are offered a glimpse of what Jesus will fulfill: an outer temple built as a place where God can reside among His people. But, unlike the old covenant, through the new covenant, the new promise, He will make it possible for us to build our entire lives on Him, not just a temple in the middle of a city but each one of us becoming a temple for our Living God. This is Good News.