What Are You Neglecting? A Call to Examine Our Priorities

There's something haunting about a house left in ruins while the neighborhood around it thrives. It stands as a silent testimony to neglect, to misplaced priorities, to the human tendency to focus on what seems urgent while ignoring what's truly important.

This is precisely the scene that confronted the returning Jewish exiles in 520 BC. After decades of captivity in Babylon, they had been granted permission to return home to Jerusalem. Sixteen years had passed since their return. Sixteen years of rebuilding their lives, constructing comfortable homes, establishing careers, and pursuing personal prosperity. Yet the temple—the very house of God—remained in ruins.

The Problem of Postponement
"The time has not come," the people declared. "The time that the Lord's house should be built."

How often do we echo this same sentiment in different words? "I'll get more involved in ministry when things settle down." "I'll start that Bible study when my schedule clears up." "I'll pursue what God's calling me to do once I've established my career." We convince ourselves that obedience can wait, that God's desires can be postponed while we attend to our own.

But the prophet's response cuts through our excuses with surgical precision: "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?"

The question isn't about building materials or construction schedules. It's about priorities. It's about what we choose to invest our time, energy, and resources into building. Are we constructing monuments to our own comfort while God's purposes lie neglected?

Three Diagnostic Questions

Are You Living in Disobedience?
The book of Lamentations offers this powerful invitation: "Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord." This isn't a call to self-condemnation but to honest self-examination. Where have we wandered from God's path? What has He asked us to do that we've left undone?

Disobedience isn't always dramatic rebellion. Sometimes it's simply saying "not yet" to what God says "now." It's the slow drift away from divine directives toward our own designs.

Are Your Desires More Important Than God's?
We live in a culture that celebrates self-actualization, personal fulfillment, and following your dreams. These aren't inherently wrong pursuits, but they become dangerous when they eclipse God's purposes for our lives. The American Dream can become a nightmare when it replaces the Kingdom dream.

The exiles had built paneled houses—homes of comfort and status—while God's house lay in rubble. What does that look like in modern terms? Perhaps it's the career we pursue for prestige rather than purpose. Maybe it's the lifestyle we maintain that leaves no room for generosity. It could be the relationships we prioritize that pull us away from community with God's people.

Are You Experiencing a Drought?

"I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands."

God sometimes uses difficulty to redirect our attention. Not every hardship is divine discipline, of course—we live in a fallen world where trouble is inevitable. But when we find ourselves working harder and accomplishing less, when our efforts seem perpetually frustrated, when we're experiencing a spiritual drought, it's worth asking: "God, is there something I'm neglecting? Have I wandered from Your path?"

When you are to blame, don't complain. Instead, examine your ways and return to the Lord.

The Temple Today

Here's where the ancient message becomes intensely personal. In the Old Testament, God's presence dwelt in the temple. But for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, something revolutionary has occurred: we have become the temple. The Spirit of God now dwells in us.

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."

This transforms the question from "What building are you constructing?" to "What kind of temple are you maintaining?"

The graduates heading off to college face this reality acutely. New environments, new freedoms, new temptations—all will test what kind of temple they've built and are building. But this isn't just a message for the young. Every day, at every age, we face decisions about whether we'll honor the temple we've become or defile it.

A Life Dedicated to God's Presence
A life dedicated to God is full of God's presence. But dedication isn't a one-time decision—it's a daily choice. It's choosing to open your Bible in the morning even when you're tired. It's gathering with God's people even when it's inconvenient. It's pursuing what God calls you to pursue, even when the world offers shinier alternatives.

This isn't about earning God's favor or maintaining salvation through works. Once you belong to Christ, that relationship is secure. But your decisions in moments of temptation, in seasons of choice, in times of testing—these shape the trajectory of your life. Grace covers our failures, but it doesn't erase consequences.

The good news? God is a bigger forgiver than you are a sinner. No matter what you've neglected, what you've defiled, what you've postponed—it's never too late to start doing work on the temple.

The Power of Obedience
Twenty-four days. That's how long it took the people to respond after hearing God's word through the prophet. Not twenty-four years. Not even twenty-four months. Twenty-four days from hearing to doing.

"So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel... and the spirit of Joshua... and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God."

What is God asking you to build today? What has He called you to do that you've been postponing? What aspect of the temple of your life needs renovation?

Don't delay. Start today.

The Spirit of God wants to dwell in you, but you must decide to let Him in—fully, completely, without reservation. Not just the comfortable rooms of your life, but every corner, every closet, every hidden space. He wants to inhabit all of you, to fill you with His presence, to work through you for His purposes.

The question isn't whether God will be faithful. He always is. The question is whether we'll be obedient—not just avoiding flagrant sins, but actively pursuing what He's called us to do. Will we build His house, or will we let it lie in ruins while we perfect our own?

Consider your ways. Examine your priorities. And then, like those ancient exiles, begin the work. The temple is waiting.