As Paul’s letter unfolds, we’ve seen him agonize over the believers, especially the witness they were bearing. Now he turns his attention towards their households.

But first, he gives an instruction to “honour Christ and put others first” (v.21).

There they were in their ancestral homeland, and yet the people of God were not really at home. The old timers, perhaps even Haggai himself, told stories about Jerusalem in its glory before the city’s destruction in 586 bc(2:3). But what they found in their return from exile in 538 was dispiriting.

Even in moments of eagerness, the spectre of discouragement still dogs the people of God. “Does anyone remember how glorious this Temple used to be? Now it looks like nothing,” the old timers said. One can imagine their commentary. “It’s not nearly as big.” “The old one was full of gold; this is looking rather plain.”

The returned exiles are three months into the rebuilding project. The foundation of the Temple has been laid and, as it is now late autumn, the people have begun to turn their attention to agriculture. Seeds must be sown if there is a crop to be harvested in the spring. Perhaps as a way of refocusing their industry, …

We all have things in our past that we would like to forget. Indeed, it is true that there are some things that are best forgotten. But our memories are important, for, as painful as they may be at times, they can teach us valuable lessons.

The oracles of the prophet Zechariah begin with an appeal to the people of Judah to remember their past.

Forgive me for being blunt, but God doesn’t need you.

In fact, I think He is tired of you and of me and of all of us doing what we do.

He’s not tired of us as His children, or tired of loving us: but He’s tired of our fickle ways, self-satisfied ways.

Friendship – women gravitate to it and thrive with it. Men shrink from it but without it shrivel up and die. And for teenagers having friends is right up there with breathing.

We have the incredible privilege of friendship with God, …