God is pleased at our work for Him - Haggai

If you have ever employeed anyone to do a task you know what it is like to have them complete with energy, spirit and hard work. You want to reward them. You also know what it is like when someone just sits around and tries to "get by" with doing as little as possible. We don't want to reward them! Haggai is a story like that. God has a job for us to do and when we do it He likes to reward us. When we don't He feels the same way we do with those just-get-by-people. Now, we know that salvation is not a "earn-it" approach. It is by free grace and we don't have to work for it and couldn't earn it if we tried. But, after faith, we are to "work" out that faith for God. This is where the lessons of Haggai come in. In 1:7 God tells the people, through Haggai, to go up to the moutain, get wood, and rebuild the temple that "I may be pleased with it and glorified by it." God wants us to work for Him for His glorification because of what He has done for us in our creation and our salvation. He has chosen us and we ought to "go to the mountain to get wood and build ..." for Him. We are not here to enjoy the creation for our pleasure. We are here to enjoy the creation for His pleasure. Let's build something for Him that He may be glorified.