“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.” Haggai 1:9
“The people had little to show in proportion to the investment of time, energy, and capital… this may refer to the bulk of the grain harvest kept by the worshipper after the first-fruits sacrifices had been made… the context favors the notion of disappointment among the people in the harvest yields that they brought to their own homes. The ambiguity may be intentional, indicating God’s disdain for their sacrificial worship given the ruined condition of the temple precinct, as well as the disappointing reality of how quickly the scanty harvest disappeared when the people brought their portion of crops home.”
Andrew E. Hill in Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Introduction and Commentary (TOTC; Downers Grove: IVP, 2012) 68.
God saw what His people did with the first-fruits. He also sees what we do.
In this text, God expresses disdain and His people experience disappointment because they kept for themselves what God desired for them to return to Him. While times change, circumstances remain the same.
In the days of Haggai (and today), God’s people tend to keep for themselves what belongs to God, and in the process, they (or we) do not experience the anticipated return. What’s the lesson for those who desire to grow in generosity?
Make God’s priorities your first priorities with all He supplies! He sees and will honor your faithful distribution of His resources and provide unfathomable returns rather than disappointment.