Zerubbabel is a governor of Judah, a humble servant of God, leading a struggling remnant. In the line of David, it must have been hard for this royal to see His people suffering, his city a ruin, his temple only a shadow of its former glory. God is sovereign over the surrounding nations and He will care for His people. Israel still had to wait many centuries for the Messiah but God always brings about His purposes. He is always moving towards salvation, always wants us to come to Him. Zerubbabel was one humble player in God's salvation plan for His people. We can become enslaved in our own pleasures and entangled in worldly wisdom, yet God saves us through His grace and mercy, not any goodness we may think we have. Look and see what God has done. Look ahead and trust in God for what He will do in the future of your life.

A healthy person cannot pass on their health to another, but germs can be passed on to others. In the same way, we cannot impart holiness to another but we can transmit sin and spread it, just like a sickness or virus. When the people in Haggai's time built for themselves and ignored the rebuilding of God's house, God withheld blessings and prosperity. When the people repented and turned away from living for themselves and aligned themselves with God's purpose, God blessed them. We need to remember that we serve Jesus, not to be saved, but because we are saved.

The people of God had not seen the rebuilding of the temple as a priority. We displease the Lord and disgrace His name when we do not put His kingdom first. We have God's Word and we have His promises in our lives. His word will accomplish His purpose. Do we believe it and live it? How much of our resources go towards building our kingdom rather than God's kingdom? Often, we don't say no to God, we just say later. Too often we question, when we should simply obey. We need to ensure that we are seeking God first for His direction in our lives.

The story of the Gospel of going to the ends of the earth is one that is full of people who ventured into unchartered territory. We all set boundaries and put limits on ourselves - and yet, we all have the capacity to step out of our own self-imposed comfort zones. The ends of the earth are less about geography in our 21st century globalised world. The different ways that we might consider going to the ends of the earth in our mission to take the Gospel of Jesus to places that haven’t heard about it could include, across the street, across the cultural divide, across the table, across the hard places or across the globe. Where are your ends of the earth?

All forms of translation are challenging tasks and there is a requirement to move beyond simply the transfer of information. Translation is about the transfer of meaning and understanding, not just words and phrases. We can be thankful to the many people who have made the effort to translate the Bible into many languages so that it is available to read for all. The Bible, in and of itself, has the power to transform individuals, communities and countries. As Christians today we need to have faith in the transformative power of the Bible and make it a priority to read it daily.