Sunday, December 9, 2018
pm
Little things
As you read through your Bible you will come across many
events and things that within themselves seem little, yet often there
were big results, sometimes good and sometimes disastrous.
Tonight, I want to take a few minutes to talk about some little
things. Some of these use the word little and some do not.
Some are good, and some are not.
Some depend upon what you mean, as we shall see.
Our goal is simple, to see that little things do matter.
a.
Life, typically is
filled with all sorts of little things, some good and some bad.
In fact, our daily lives are mostly little things, with the
occasional “big thing” happening.
Which of these is more important?
b.
Most big things are made
up of many little things.
And big projects are typically accomplished with many little steps.
And big goals are accomplished with little steps along the way.
c.
We may think that the
little things are unimportant, but they are not.
We may think that WE are unimportant, but each of us is very
important. Paul illustrated
that by describing us as a body in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 – every part,
small or large, seen or unseen is important and has a purpose.
d.
Consider Luke 16:10,, “He
who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is
unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.”
Often, how we handle the little things is an indicator of what we
would do with greater things.
e.
So, let’s consider some
little things we find in scripture.
a.
Some sad examples:
i.
A little piece of fruit
– Genesis 3:6 – resulted in the fall of man.
ii.
A little fire –
Leviticus 10:1-3 – resulted in two priests being burned to death.
iii.
A little anger – Numbers
20:7-12 – kept Moses out of the Promised Land.
He was commanded to speak to a rock to bring out water for the
children of Israel in the wilderness, but he struck the rock instead
(and used words drawing attention to him).
iv.
A little touch – 2
Samuel 6:6-7 – Uzzah touched the ark of the covenant to keep it from
falling, because it was being wrongfully transported by oxen, and was
struck dead by the LORD immediately.
v.
Of course, in each of
these examples, their “little” act was actually was disobeying God’s
direct instructions. We
learn from these that God means what He says, even to the minutest of
details.
Matthew 5:19 – whoever shall break the least of these commandments…
See also James 2:10 – whoever keeps the whole law and stumbles in
one point…
As we often do with sin, we sometimes catalogue the commandments of God.
While there certainly are principles to consider as we establish
authority for what we do and don’t do, we must not treat the “little”
details as trivial. What God
says to do, we must do.
b.
Little faith – Matthew
6:30, 8:26, 14:31 – a rebuke because their faith was not as great as it
should be. We need to
develop greater faith. If
our faith is too little, it can be a setback in many ways.
c.
1 Corinthians 5:6 – a
little leaven leavens the whole lump, Galatians 5:9 – a little influence
for bad, if left alone, can result in great damage.
d.
James 3:4-5 – the tongue
is a little member that like a little fire can kindle a forest.
Like a ship guided by a small rudder.
Matthew 12:36-37 – for every idle word, we will give account.
e.
Some good examples:
i.
A little word of
intercession - Abigail speaking to David – 1 Samuel 25 gives the account
of Nabal, a selfish man who was unwilling to help David in his distress,
though David had done good for his household.
Vs. 23-31 – Abigail intercedes for her worthless husband and
prevents him from being destroyed by David. 10 days later the LORD
struck Nabal and he died.
ii.
Providing a little food
for Elijah - 1 Kings 17:8-16 – there is drought in and around Israel.
Elijah flees to Zarephath, where he finds a widow with only
enough flour and oil for a last meal for her and her son.
At Elijah’s request, she feeds him and as a result, her bin of
flour and jar of oil did not run out until the drought had ended.
iii.
A little room for Elisha
– 2 Kings 4:8ff, a woman and her elderly husband prepared a room for
Elisha as he passed through.
As a result, Elisha blessed her and the next year, she had a son (she
had been childless).
iv.
The advice of a servant
girl - The servant girl of Israel taken captive by Syria (Naaman) – most
of us have heard of Naaman, the leprous commander of the Syrian army.
Found in 2 Kings 5:3-4, we find this servant girl tells of a
prophet in Israel who could heal him.
This eventually results in Naaman being healed when he dipped in
the river Jordan 7 times (another little thing) – note 2 Kings 5:11-14
where Naaman was expecting some “great thing” to happen.
v.
Ebed-Melech – Jeremiah
38:7-11, he was a Eunuch of Ethiopia who served in the kings house.
He intercedes for Jeremiah who is delivered.
vi.
A few little fish –
Matthew 15:34 – used to feed 4000 people.
This shows how little things, can lead to great things, with the
help of God.
vii.
A woman washing the feet
of Jesus – Luke 7:36-38 – she washes His feet with her tears and dries
them with her hair. Later
Jesus forgives her sins.
viii.
The widow with 2 mites –
Luke 21:1-4, as Jesus observes the rich putting money into the treasury,
a widow gives 2 mites (small coins worth little).
Jesus saw how BIG her gesture was – she had given more than all,
because it was all she had.
ix.
Barnabas standing up for
Paul in Jerusalem – Acts 9:26-27 – Barnabas stood up for Paul in
Jerusalem when he sought to join them.
f.
Proverbs 30:24-28 – four
little creatures which are exceedingly wise
i.
The ant is industrious
ii.
The rock badgers, while
feeble, find protection in crags
iii.
The locust, with no
king, advances in rank – orderliness
iv.
The spider – skillfully
weaves its webs and is everywhere.
v.
The point – we can look
around us and see the accomplishments of little things (and creatures)
g.
A cup of cold water –
Matthew 10:42, 25:40 – the least of these, My brethren… - God sees the
little things we do for others.
h.
A little faith, leaven,
and word – all of these were addressed with passages above to show the
damage or problems they can cause.
BUT these words can likewise do good
i.
The faith of a mustard
seed – Matthew 17:20 – a little bit of proper faith can accomplish great
things (that would be faith with no doubting, etc.)
ii.
Leavening can spread for
good just like it can for bad – Matthew 13:33 – Jesus used the
illustration to show the kingdom would spread.
iii.
A little word can do
great things – encourage, comfort, edify, etc.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
i.
The little flock of
Jesus - Luke 12:32. We may appear little to the world, but God has
bigger plans for us and sees things differently.
The kingdom would grow like a mustard seed – Matthew 13:31-32
j.
Revelation 3:8 – you
have a little strength – spoken of the church at Philadelphia.
Imagine what a little strength can do where God is concerned.
It all depends upon what we do with our strength.
The point of this lesson is to remind us that the little
things count, for good or bad.
How are we using everything that we have?
Luke 16:10 gives us a good lesson about this, “He who is faithful
in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what
is least is unjust also in much.”
Hebrews 10:37 – a little while and He is coming.