Editorial September 30, 1972 Issue

Bags Without Holes

Naomi Price

"Consider your ways," said Haggai to the people of Judah nearly 2,500 years ago. "Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ... and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes."^{Hag. 1:5, 6;}

The prophet was referring to the people's shortsighted absorption in material wants. He was warning them that their material-mindedness and lack of enough selfless reverence for God to glorify Him in their lives, and to prove their love for Him by rebuilding His house, were leading to misery and depletion. But many men and women in this twentieth century have the unhappy feeling that this description applies to them, too—that they are working hard for wages that all too quickly vanish under the pressure of high taxation and the continually rising cost of living. They wonder how they can plug the holes in their pockets and have enough to supply the legitimate needs of their families.

In fact, the solution to modern problems of an inflated economy is to be found in the spiritual message underlying the advice given by Haggai to the people of Judah. He urged them to put God first in their thoughts and to prove that they were doing so by rebuilding "the Lord's house" before decorating their own dwellings. He pointed out that God is the source of all true substance: "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,"^2:8;he represented God as saying. By recognizing this fact, he inferred mankind can ensure that their substance will always be completely safe and satisfying. Instead of seeing it dwindle away, they will find that their every need is richly supplied.

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