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It’s About the Little Things

Matthew 10:40-42 relates the last instructions that Jesus gave His disciples before He sent them out as witnesses on His behalf. He taught them the importance of the ministry of little things. Jesus said, ”We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing” (The Message).

He said this in order to let the disciples and us know how acceptable little services are to Him. In another passage, Jesus taught this principle by referring to a widow who gave her last two coins to God. Little things done in the right spirit are acceptable to God and man. If we wait for opportunities to do great things, we may never accomplish anything. We all have a call to the ministry of little things; Christ accepts what we do “for Him” as done “to Him.”

It would be better to have a great many people doing little things than to have a few doing great things. Great results can grow from doing little things, like a stream that starts as a trickle and widens out to become a great river. Christ spoke these things because He wanted us ALL to work in His Kingdom. He knew that we might think that our efforts would amount to so little that we might do nothing at all. So, in every church, if each of us did the little things that are within our power to do, there would be a great deal of work done. Like the song “This Little Light of Mine,” if we each let our little lights shine, as little as it might seem sometimes, together we can bring a great light to our community.

Jesus spoke these words because He wanted us to know that no worker will lose his reward. Unfortunately, it often tends to be the belief that only those who do large, conspicuous service for the Lord will receive rewards in heaven. Christ taught that all, in high places or low places, who are faithful to the opportunities and abilities with which He has presented us, will in no way lose his or her reward. It’s all about the little things. So, cheerfully do your part for Jesus, whatever that might be.

Dan Jamison
Pastoral Team (Pastoral Care)