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“Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!” Hag 2:3 NLT
Looking back can be detrimental in the Kingdom (see Lk 9:62). If all you do is wish that things were the way they used to be or be in one place wishing you were somewhere else, life will be miserable for you. Your faith will be diminished, consumed, eaten up by your dissatisfaction of the current situation. All we have in life is NOW. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not yet. Each day we are dealt our hand in life and we can choose to play that hand or let that hand play us.
Make a choice. Make a decision that you are not only going to play the hand dealt to you but you are going to win! Life is not a gamble but we do often take risks in daily decisions. For us life is purpose and living on purpose is our goal. Some decisions we make may turn out bad but we must never give up on making decisions. We must learn how to make better decisions in order to make a better future for ourselves and others. To make no decisions is failure (complete failure) and is unacceptable.
When the people of God decided to work to build the Lord’s House, there were some who started thinking about the former days and years of the old temple which King Solomon had built. They began to compare the older with the newer and despised the newer as if it was nothing. Once the foundation was complete you had those who were looking back weeping, while those who were looking forward rejoicing (see Ezra 3:10-13). Those who looked back only saw what God HAD done while those who were looking forward saw what God IS CURRENTLY doing.
That’s the danger of looking back. Looking back can steal your joy, your peace, your faith. As long as you’re looking back you can’t see and appreciate going forward. The good old days are just that, the good OLD days. Our God declares “Behold, I will do a NEW thing, NOW it shall spring forth (Isa 43:19)!” So in order to comfort those who were discouraged God said to them, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former…and in this place will I give peace… (Hag 2:9).” Don’t look back, look ahead!
“Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.” Eccl 7:10 NLT
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