Rebuild.
God sends Haggai to announce God’s expectation that the temple be rebuilt. There was a time that opposition kept them from working on the temple, but God had removed that opposition. Yet, the people worked on their fields and on their houses but not the house of God. The enthusiasm for rebuilding the temple had waned. It is challenging to remain enthusiastic about a project for an extended period of time. It isn’t unusual for the initial energy about something to give way to routine even taking things for granted. How do we maintain our enthusiasm for our faith journey? How can we keep our faith fresh and not routine? Day after day there are new challenges. Our faith is tested frequently. We are called upon to examine life and understand the privilege of serving God. We are called to love God and people and to allow those principles to occupy our hearts. Our journey isn’t easy, but just as God promised his people through Haggai, the completion of our journey will be worth all the times of testing.