Consider your ways

I am flying through so many books. I am also making my way through “Bible in a Year,” and I am in Zechariah now, but the past two weeks I was in Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Haggai. They are very difficult books to get through. They are not long, (in fact very short), but they seem so redundant. God tells a prophet a message, prophet relays message to people, people repent, then go right back to their evil ways. I know there is more to these books and I read them through several times only to come up with nothing of substance--or so I thought…
Then I looked around at my environment and thought about where I came from and where I am today. And suddenly the prophet’s message made perfect sense—CONSIDER YOUR WAYS!! A quick perusal of my tier, and it became abundantly clear that the prophet’s message of old is still the same message for today. We must CONSIDER OUR WAYS.
In prison, the saying, “You never really know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” certainly holds true. On the outside, I was so quick to offer (scattered) Christian advice, but I did not want to take responsibility to consistently live as a Christian. In prison, I see the importance of both. On the outside, I was never satisfied and I always wanted more. I had access to the best foods, drinks, and possessions. But I wanted more. It was never enough. I was never full. I was never content.
In prison, you have to make do with what they give you. You get three square meals a day, two sets of state uniforms, which includes khaki shirts and pants, tube socks, paper underwear, undershirts and plastic shoes. I sleep on a 3 inch mattress, no wider than 2 ½ feet. Your space is limited, your possessions controlled. A pad of paper is greatly appreciated; a normal size pen is hard to come by. Nothing is wasted or thrown away. Toilet paper never seemed more valuable. I can go on all day. “You never really know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” I earn $1.75 for a full day’s work and every penny is valued.
I’ve considered my old ways and priorities. It’s now clear, I now see. The prophet’s message of the past is for the here and now: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink, you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he, who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways!” Haggai
1:5-7
~~~And so I read on…nothing but the truth in the good book, the Bible~~~