¹⁸ ‘Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: ¹⁹ Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. “‘From this day on I will bless you.’” Haggai 2: 18-19

In Haggai 2:18, it says, “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought.” Give careful thought about something that happened in the past. God tells us to remember the past when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Remember what happened… As Christians, it’s vital to recognize the importance of our past, present, and future and to have all three working in harmony. Many of the illnesses and challenges we face come about because we cannot reconcile the different perspectives of the past lying behind us, the present as the place we are, and the future as ahead of us. We must have all three time perspectives working together and functioning as one to be healthy Christians.

If we live in the past without consideration for our present and future, we become soaked, even drunk with nostalgia. Someone living in the past can’t move forward. You’re stuck. Some people never get over a traumatic event, and it hurts them in the present because they can’t get over it. If you are someone with no thought of the past or future, you live with the motto “I only live for today.” You’re reckless and thoughtless. If you only live for the future, you are cold and insensitive to where you came from and how you are doing in the present. We need to maintain balance regarding all three- past, present, and future- without leaning on one.

First, we must unite the past and the present. We must look back, reflect on what we have done wrong. Look back at all the sins you’ve committed. Look back at how you wronged God and others. With a fine-tooth comb, look back at the sin in your life and the bad things that have been weighing you down. Move these thoughts and reflections to the present by repenting and fixing those things. Instead of carrying around the baggage of sin, repent everything in the preset. Wipe the slate clean. Free yourself of all the burden.

And look back in the past and remember all the good things God has done. Remember the time He helped you out of a crisis or gave you guidance in your darkest moments. Remember how He has blessed you with good health, a good job, and a good family. Move these reflections to the present by confirming your faith. “The God who did these things for me in the past is still with me today.” Many times, we forget what God has done for us. We forget or think it had something to do with luck or effort. Remember the good things God has done for you in the past, and use those thoughts as confirmation for the present.

Once we have the past and present reconciled, we think about the future. We move into the future by stiffening our resolves against sin, confirming our faith, and creating a plan of action. In other words, we need the work we did on our past and present to lay the foundation for moving into the future. We cannot move into the future without recognition of our successes and failures in the past, and unless we resolve what we did in the past in our present, we can’t move into the future.

We can live our whole lives dwelling on our past sins, never repenting, and doing the same evil things over and over again until we die. We must always look back. And when we look back, we discover good and bad things. For the bad things, repent, and do not carry them over into the future. For the good things, remember how God helped you and carry that feeling of confirmation into the future. When David is about to fight Goliath, he remembers the past and how God had helped him kill a lion and bear who attacked his sheep. He looked back (past) to give him confirmation that the same God would help him kill Goliath (future). “The Lord saved me from the lion and the bear. He will also save me from this Philistine.”

Let’s take this opportunity to cure ourselves of all the sin and bad things we’ve endured. Wipe the slate clean, repent, and start fresh. And remember all the good things God has done. He is with us now and in the future. There is nothing to fear if our past, present, and future move as one, in sync with God.

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1985-3-12-short-1