Actually, we don’t, but we used to. I remember when paneling on the walls was seen as a step up from sheetrock. It’s funny how things run in a cycle. Nowadays, almost everyone has removed the paneling and gone back to sheetrock. What goes around comes around.

When the Jews were first freed from Babylonian captivity and allowed to return to Jerusalem, their first thoughts were of rebuilding the temple and the city walls. However, they soon lost focus and, in their prosperity, they diverted their efforts to building and beautifying their own homes. In Haggai 1:3-4, the Lord spoke through the prophet and asked, “Is it time for you to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” God told them that what they were doing was like taking money and trying to save it in a bag full of holes.

The problem is not in desiring to have nice homes; the problem is when we abandon the work of God and begin doing our own thing. Jesus said it like this in Matthew 16:18, “Seek ye first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Our real treasures are in heaven.