Paneled Houses, Ruined Temple

"In the second year of king Darius, in the sixth month, on the first day, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubabbel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying "Thus speaks the LORD of hosts saying 'This people says "The time has not come, the time that the LORD's house should be built.'"

Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying 'Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple to lie in ruins?'"  - Haggai 1:  1-3

One of my resolutions this year was to work on memorizing three books of the Bible.  I have finished my first one - Titus - and moved on to the Old Testament.  I chose Haggai because because 1)  I've taught on it before, and 2)  It's short (38 verses).

As I began on Haggai, the above three verses leaped out at me.

Why?  Because so often I have found myself saying the exact same thing.  Oh, it's not that the Lord's temple needs to be built (Old Testament stuff, of course).  But in my own life, how much is there that God has called us - me - to do? 

Interestingly, although works do not save us, God has plenty to say about what we should be about - not just in our attitudes but in our actions.  He does have the expectation that I will be about building up His kingdom through actions in my family, my circle of influence and my world.

But how often do I say "Oh, the time has not come"?  More than I probably should.

My intentions are, I'm sure, seemingly justifiable:  I'm already so busy and there's so much to do.  I'm sure if God really wanted me to be doing something, He'd make it self evident that's what I should be doing.

But God doesn't necessarily see it that way - it's not a question of time, it's a question of importance.

 Surely the Israelites were busy too - rebuilding a ruined city in a conquered land, worrying about protection from enemies, struggling to get crops in.  It's that they apparently found the time to build paneled houses - houses that were paneled with cedar, or houses that were improved, a sort of 5th Century B.C. home upgrade - but could find no time to rebuild God's temple.  I'm sure if you asked them they too would have said "We're so busy just trying to stay alive.  Sure, we have  some fruits of our labor from that, but we're still really busy, and I'm sure God doesn't mind.  Yes, I know God wants His temple rebuilt but after all, He hasn't given us a clear sign in a long time - I mean, we had to stop 16 years ago and He never really said "Start" - and we're so busy trying to stay alive.  Whoops - if you'll pardon me, the paneling oiling and house cleaning service is here.  Need to go let them in."

God's response "Is it a time for you"  suggests He doesn't see it that way at all.   He turns their words against them - Not just "The time has not come" but implied "The time has not come for you (because you're too busy about yourselves), the time that the LORD's house should be rebuilt - but is it time for you  to build your own lives and neglect Me?"

If the focus is there - building God's kingdom instead of our own - how do we fare?  How do I?  Or am I too busy putting in my own panels to realize that the time to do God's will is always first and always now?