sermonette: Little Things
Being Faithful In ALL That God Has Given Us
Bill Cherry
Given 16-Nov-02; Sermon #584s; 13 minutes
Description: (show)
The principle of stewardship teaches that whoever is faithful in little things can be entrusted with larger responsibilities (Luke 10:16). God can tell where our hearts are by our care toward the small things. Attention to small things (such as incremental prayer, Bible study, and meditation) will determine the quality of the large things with which we will be later entrusted.
To everyone. Please turn to Luke 16:10. It's the versions are familiar to us, um. He that is faithful and that which is least is faithful also in much. And you probably know that this verse comes on the heels of, it's a, it's a kind of a summary verse of the pal that
Jesus told about. An unjust steward who wasted his master's estate. Now we are charged with our masters of state.
God has given us tremendous spiritual blessings and tremendous spiritual gifts and The question is how are we using it? And Christ told us, and he, he made this summer statement to show that we should be faithful in many things now. And that's an indication of what we will do later when we are entrusted with big things. So, the purpose of this sermon is to show you that our
faithfulness to do little things is an indication of our heart and our soul and our mind. Please turn to 21. And we will start reading at verse 1, Luke 21. Alright, this is talking about Jesus here it says, and he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a certain poor winner casting feather. 2 pennies. That doesn't say 22 in my King James version, but it does have a note here, 2 mics equals 2 cents. So that's how much she cast into the treasury. And if we saw, let's say maybe a holiday day offering, and maybe it's not about business what other people put in, but if we saw somebody putting in 2 cents, what do we think? What do you think? Uh the first start. Well Jesus said, of the truth, I say to you that this poor little cast in more than they all. And this must have been puzzling to them, and he gave an explanation. He said, for all these. have of their abundance cast into the offerings of God. But they, but she of her punty has cast in all the living that she had. So he's saying This is what I see. I see a woman who has put in everything and literally where her heart was, there she put her treasure, so she put everything there. And this is where God looks at us. Where is our heart? And he just it judges us by little things. Now, I want to sing to you a song of the 50s. It's called Little Things mean a lot, and I wouldn't um but uh. It expresses a
love of a husband to a wife, and the feelings that the wife has, and the feelings that the little things and how they imitate the way she feels. So Forgive the music, but I want you to understand and to hear the words. Blow me a kiss from across the. Say I look nice when I'm not. Touch my hair when you pass my chair, little things mean a lot. Weel with me at the side of the bed. Call me at 6 on the dot. A on a day when you're far away, little things mean a lot. They have to buy me diamonds and pears, champagne shambles or such. I never cared much for diamonds and pearls because honestly, honey, they just cost money. Give me. And when I've lost my way, give me a shoulder to cry, oh. All is bright ugly. Give me your heart to rely on. Give me the warmth of a secret smile to show me you haven't forgot. That always and ever, now and forever, little things mean a lot. Now this expression. But The things that he does, the little things, make a big, big difference, and they indicate where his heart is. And so it is with God. And, and her, her message is, I can tell where your heart is by these little things that you do. And God looks at us, and by the little things that we do, he tells where our heart is. Uh, please turn to Haggi 4. Verse 9 and 10. Excuse me, I'm sorry. Zachariah, probably some of you knew where I was going.
Zechariah 4:9 and 10. OK, but verse 9, the hands of the river have laid the foundation of this house. And his hands shall finish it. And thou shalt know that the Lord of Hoth has sent me to unto you. Alright, this is an image of a builder, and the next part, just part of this verse, it says, for who has despised the day of small things. So God said, I'm building a foundation, I'm building a house, and it was physical, but of course we know that God is building a spiritual house in us individually and in the church collectively. But He asked the question, who has despised the day of small things? And we are building a house. Picking up a board, a nail, and hammering into a board is a small thing. Taking a room and measuring the board and cutting it is a small thing, and if you've ever tried it, sometimes you do not cut it just right, and I've done that before. Some of you built, and I've come up with boards that are shorter and will not fit the place, so I have to learn how to measure. The measuring is a small thing and summing up a half and putting a level on it and getting it level is a small thing. But the quality of work that you put in a small thing, like hand on the board and you put it in these small things, and you have the integrity of the house is built on small things. And so the inherent integrity of our relationship to God, integrity of our spiritual character is built by small things. And so, think of a small thing like a prayer. What if you set aside a special time every day, a special place, a special purpose. And we pray every day. And you keep doing it like David or Daniel, 3 times a day, a prayer. You put your heart into these prayers and, and your relationship with God, you remember what God wants you to do and how he wants you to do it. You pour your heart out and pray for other people. These prayers will be like tiny little bricks in a big wall, and the more bricks you put in, the thicker and stronger this wall will be, and it will cause your relationship to God to be strengthened and strengthened, and your
faith will be strengthened. So these small things will build, and God will see where your heart is. Applied to Bible study. You want to put God's word in your heart. Scripture by scripture, line upon line, here a little, very little, for doctrine, the proof, correction, instruction and righteousness. And this is your purpose, and you do it day by day and you make an appointment with God, and you see this spiritual house that you're building, your relationship to God and your understanding of this word, and you do as we have been admonished in the sermon last week. You do not forget it because you apply it and you do it, and you practice what you what you have read. And so, consider your relationships with other people, your deep desire to express the love of God in the way that you act toward them, first starting with the way you think. Your actions, a word of Thomas an act of helping, and you're able to control a forgiving heart and a forgiving spirit, and you're able to control the way that you respond and let God take care of the rest. Uh, these small things developed, they not only reveal the way we feel about God and God's word, but they also developed the way we feel. So the little things will mean a lot. Now do not we judge others by little things. And I know that um, This, this story, this, this touched me very deeply, and I like to tell this story. I was at a wedding and it was a time for the boy and the girl to drive off and his foot was on the accelerator, his key was on the ignition, and everybody was around. But he stopped. He opened the door. He walked out and he hugged his mother. And he said something to her and to me. I do not know what he said, but I think he said, Mother, I love you very much. I want to thank you for what you've meant to me, and you'll always mean a lot to me, and I think that this was the kind of thing he said, then he got in the car and then he drove off and I said that was a beautiful act. And I said, I think this man is going to make a good husband to his wife. Now I haven't followed their marriage, but for all I know, he has. But do not we think of the little thing that Abraham Lincoln did, walking miles to return a few cents, and they reveal character and they also developed character. But God has given us tremendous spiritual blessings, understanding the fellowship, his word, and He is interested in the way that we are going to manage his estate, like the ste, like a good steward should. So let us be faithful in little things.
