“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.” – Haggai 1:6 (KJV)

There’s a thing that happens when priorities get shuffled around in life. You work harder, but somehow end up with less. You eat, but never feel satisfied. You put on a sweater, but the chill stays with you. And that paycheck? It seems to vanish before you’ve even folded it and put it in your wallet.

I was thinking about this verse while driving home from work yesterday. My old car needs a new timing belt – has for months now. But I keep putting it off to handle “more important” things. Meanwhile, I’m spending money on towing fees and temporary fixes that cost more in the long run. Kind of ridiculous when you step back and look at it, right?

This is exactly what God was pointing out through Haggai. The Jewish people had returned from exile in Babylon. They were back home in Jerusalem with permission to rebuild the temple. They started the work with enthusiasm, laid the foundation, and then… they got distracted. For about 16 years, the temple sat unfinished while they focused on building and decorating their own homes.

So God sent Haggai with a wake-up call.

The verse itself is incredibly visual. You can almost see the farmer scattering seeds across his field, expecting a bountiful harvest, only to gather just a handful of grain when harvest time comes. You can picture someone eating a meal but pushing away from the table still hungry. A person wrapping themselves in clothes but shivering nonetheless. A worker watching their hard-earned money disappear as through a hole in their pocket.

There’s nothing subtle about the message. Their economy was broken, but not for the reasons they might have thought.

Look at verse 9, just a few lines down: “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.”

The issue wasn’t bad economic policy or poor farming techniques. It was misplaced priorities. They had put their own comfort ahead of their commitment to God. They had built “paneled houses” for themselves while God’s house lay in ruins.

This reminds me of something my grandmother used to say: “Put first things first, and second things are thrown in. Put second things first, and you lose both first and second things.” She wasn’t quoting C.S. Lewis, though the thought is similar. She was speaking from life experience, having lived through the Depression and two world wars. She knew that when the foundation is neglected, nothing built on top will last.

What’s striking is how quickly the people responded. Verse 12 tells us that Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the people “obeyed the voice of the LORD their God.” Within 24 days of Haggai’s message, they were back to work on the temple. And immediately, God encouraged them: “I am with you.”

This isn’t a prosperity gospel message where God promises wealth if you tithe enough. It’s much deeper. It’s about alignment. When our priorities align with God’s, there’s a natural restoration of order and purpose. Things just work better.

The Jewish people had tried to build their lives and secure their futures while neglecting their spiritual foundation. The result was an economy with holes in it – effort without proportionate reward, consumption without satisfaction.

We do the same thing, don’t we? We pour ourselves into careers, relationships, hobbies, and possessions, thinking these will bring fulfillment. And they might bring moments of happiness. But when we neglect our spiritual foundation, everything built on top eventually develops cracks.

I find it interesting that God didn’t punish the people here. He simply withdrew his blessing and protection, allowing natural consequences to follow. Then he sent a messenger to help them connect the dots between their actions and outcomes.

Sometimes the hardest spiritual truths to grasp are the practical ones. We intellectually understand the importance of putting God first, but we still get caught up in the immediate demands of daily life.

What Haggai shows us is that these aren’t separate realms. Our spiritual priorities directly impact our practical lives. When we put God’s purposes first, everything else tends to fall into place – not because God magically makes us rich, but because we’re living in alignment with how we were designed to function.

So what’s the take-home message from this ancient prophet? It’s pretty simple: check your foundations. If your life feels like you’re working harder but getting less, eating but staying hungry, or earning but never having enough, it might be time to ask some deeper questions about priorities.

For those ancient Jews, the answer was to rebuild the temple – to restore worship at the center of community life. For us, it might look different in the specifics, but the principle remains: put first things first.

When I finally replaced that timing belt, not only did I stop paying for tows and temporary fixes, but driving felt different. Smoother. More reliable. I could enjoy the journey again instead of worrying about being stranded.

Perhaps that’s what God wanted for his people too – not just a building, but a restoration of relationship, security, and joy. A life without holes in it.