Consider your ways as year closes

October is the month of fear. Scary movies, haunted houses, ghosts, goblins and zombies. The scariest thing about October, though, is not the 5-year-old dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West but that there are at this time of writing fewer than 75 days left in 2021. The shortness of days makes today the perfect time to consider your ways.

"Consider your ways" is the command the Lord gives to his people through the prophet Haggai. Haggai 1:5-7 highlights how the people plant but harvest little. Eat, but are not satisfied. Drink but are still thirsty. Put on clothes are but are still cold. Put their money in pockets full of holes. Haggai makes the penetrating statement that his people are constantly searching for and acquiring what they believe will provide deep and lasting satisfaction, only to discover they are just as empty as before. The Lord seems to not only be speaking to people who lived more than 2,500 years ago but to those who just ordered something online 25 minutes ago. So I want to propose three ways to consider your ways.

First, examine your life. Sit down with a pen and paper and ask yourself when the most important people in your life talk about you, what do you want them to say? How do you want them to describe you? This forward-looking question identifies your idealized life and opens the door to contrast your ideal to your real life. Examining your life is the first step in considering your ways.

Second, evaluate your actions. In Haggai, we see that the people acted contrary to the faith they proclaimed. Their idealized life was out of harmony with their actual life. Consider if the actions you are taking are pressing your closer or further from your idealized life.

Lastly, establish your priorities. Define as precisely as you can what your priorities are. In Haggai, the people needed to prioritize worship. In the busyness of their lives, they forgot God. Their greatest passion and utmost priority required placing Him first. Jesus said it this way, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33.) When God is first, it is easier to define what needs to be second.

Before you realize the calendar pages will be turning from this year to the next. If you do not pause and "consider your ways," you might miss the days, the years and their meaning.