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THE IMPORTANCE OF FOUNDATIONS

Foundations are very important. The writer of Psalms realized this when he asked:

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalms 11:3)

In the natural world if the foundation of a building is not properly laid the whole structure can collapse. The same is true in the spiritual world. A wrong foundation will result in spiritual disaster.

The Biblical record of Haggai stresses the importance of proper spiritual foundations. Israel was experiencing poor harvests in the natural world. Haggai told them to examine their ways:

Ye have sown much, and bring in little...Consider your ways...Ye looked for much, and lo it came to little. (Haggai 1:6,7,9)

To correct the problem, Haggai told Israel they must rebuild both in the natural and spiritual worlds.

Rebuilding in the natural world was necessary for Israel because they had delayed building the house of the Lord. They had built their own homes and put their own concerns ahead of God's command to rebuild the temple. But more important, the spiritual foundation of their lives was wrong. They had been offering sacrifices [good works] with unholy hands:

...So is this people, and so is this nation before me, says the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there on the altar is unclean because they who offer it are themselves unclean. (Haggai 2:14, The Amplified Version)

A right work offered by unholy hands is not acceptable. The spiritual foundation of their lives was wrong and this is why they were not blessed by God.

In the natural world Haggai told God's people that the foundation of the Lord's temple must be rebuilt. He said they must also rebuild their spiritual lives on a proper foundation. From the day that Israel started to build on the right foundation God began to bless them:

But now note this: From today,...and from this day onward, I will bless you. Notice, I am giving you this promise now before you have even begun to rebuild the Temple structure, and before you have harvested your grain, and before the grapes and figs and pomegranates and olives have produced their next crops: From this day I will bless you. (Haggai 2:18-19, The Living Bible)

From the day you start to build proper spiritual foundations, God will bless you in every area of your life.