Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate? Now therefore, thus says the LORD of Hosts, 

"Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied... and he who earns, earns wages to be put into a purse with holes." Thus says the LORD of Hosts, "Consider your ways!"

Haggai 1:4-7, NASB

The election is finally over, and we have chosen a new President. But for millions of people like me, we have not just selected a new President but a new direction. We are tired of our borders being open and criminals entering this nation. It's not that all are murders, thieves and rapists, but all who have come illegally are criminals, and we have watched with horror as our own government has aided and abetted this crime. This same government has gone on a mad spending spree that has resulted in sky rocketing inflation and a debt which will hamper future generations for years to come. We have abortion at any stage, we have men who think they are women and vice versa, we have sown hatred and dissatisfaction and hopelessness.

I believe we have been given a second chance, but perhaps not in the way you are thinking, for the things I listed above are not the root of the problem, but mere symptoms. The root is that we have lost our devotion to God and, unless we return to Him, we are quite literally doomed. The leaders we have selected are not perfect individuals and they cannot save us from our troubles. We will have to do that on our own and it will likely be the most difficult thing we have ever done. We are going to have to consider our ways and count the costs. Does America have what it takes to be great again?

It will have to begin with a recognition that we have sin in our own lives that must be repented of. We will have to acknowledge the fact that we have been living in fine houses while the Lord's "house" is lying in ruins. This is what the Israelites in Haggai's time were admonished for. They had just returned from a 70-year exile in enemy territory and were trying to rebuild. They naturally started with their own homes for they had to have somewhere to live, but they had gone too far. Once they had returned from exile, and once they had food and shelter, they should have gotten serious about rebuilding the temple of the LORD... but they found themselves too busy to do so. Their houses were not quite good enough yet. They didn't have quite the store of food yet. They didn't have quite the amount of savings to really feel secure yet. 

It seems it wasn't enough for God to rescue them and provide them with good things - they had to have more. And when it came time to build the house of the LORD? Well, they simply didn't have time! So, God sent the prophet Haggai to deliver this message: In effect, he said, "You plant much, but you harvest little; you have clothes, but they are not warm enough to keep you comfortable; you try to put a bit into savings, but it is instantly consumed." And then he gave them this message directly from God: Consider your ways!

This in a nutshell is what I believe we need to be doing right now. In effect, we have returned from exile. America has been on a decades-long experiment of divorcing God from their lives and wedding themselves to the evil one. How has that worked out so far? I have to admit that it was beginning to look hopeless to me, but this election has changed that opinion. It's not that the people that we have elected are so good, for we are all too familiar with the flaws they have had in their own lives. Rather, it is that these people have pledged themselves to trying to halt this plunge into depravity that America has participated in. Whether they will be successful or not will entirely depend on whether they will humble themselves before God and try to rebuild in His way.

And make no mistake, America needs rebuilding. Too many of us have just accepted the fact that we are surrounded with perversion and crime and foul language and drugs and every other sinful activity you can think of. Sadly, many of those who claim to be Christians have plunged into the same lifestyle of dissipation. After all, everybody is doing it, aren't they? But this has to stop, America's sinking ship has to be righted before it goes under for the last time. If my words seem to be a little extreme and perhaps even a bit dramatic and exaggerated to you, then consider this: I am convinced that our situation is that dire and more. Furthermore, I believe this may very well be our last chance to actually do something about it before it is too late.

So what do we need to do? I believe that we have to repent and turn back to the Lord in our personal lives before we can even think about cleaning up the mess that America finds itself in. We need to encourage others to do the same, and then we need to insist that our newly elected leaders repent as well. Then we need to get over the idea that we need to rebuild our own lives and get our own things together before we can possibly begin rebuilding the house of the Lord. I'm not talking about constructing a new church building: I am talking about rebuilding the temple of the Lord that is to be in all of our hearts. For until we return to God with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength, the idea of returning this nation to its former glory will not be possible. Why is that?

It is because this country was founded by men and women who were determined to make it a nation that was directed and ruled by God!

And I'm not inferring that it was some sort of theocrasy in which God's high priests ruled the land. I am simply talking about the fact that every child who went to school learned from the earliest possible age. This nation was founded by people who believed that God was the Creator and that Jesus was their Savior. They believed that if people would just conduct themselves in a godly manner, and if they would prefer and select Christians for their leaders, that the nation would be safe. While it is true that some of our founders did not fully embrace Christianity, they were in the distinct minority. As Alexis de Tocqueville pointed out, "America was great because America was good, and if she ever ceased to be good, she would cease to be great." His intended observation has become an unintended prophesy. America has ceased to be great because she ceased to be good!

We have a rare opportunity to correct that error but, like the people of Haggai's time who were returning from an exile of their own, we have to consider our ways! We need to take care of first things first. That means restoring God to His rightful position as the rightful King of our lives, and then insisting that our leaders do the same. Failing that, I am convinced that America will fail. However, should we be able to accomplish this vital feat of restoring God and Christ to their rightful positions, first in our hearts and then in our nation, then I am convinced that we can become what God has always intended for us to be.

We have a new leader who has taken as his motto, "Make America Great Again!" Be assured that this can be done, but not without first making America good again. And that will require nothing less than a modern-day miracle: It will require that we return our hearts, our lives, and our nation back to God! Are you willing to do your part? It will begin with us all considering our ways, and then doing something about them.