Monday, August 14, 2017

Small Stuff

August 14, 2017

“A Little Is a Lot” was the title of a sermon I heard years ago. It was taken from the text in Mark 12 where Jesus commended a widow for giving two small copper coins. By themselves, they weren’t much, but because it was all she had, her gift meant more to Jesus than the huge sums the wealthy gave. This story has often been twisted into commending stingy giving by those who can afford to do much more than they do, but today, that is beside the point.

Small things can make a big difference. Today in my bass lesson, my instructor noticed a few things about my playing, and made small adjustments to my left hand position and to the way I applied pressure to the strings with the bow. It wasn’t much; just a bit of tweaking here and there, but it made a big difference in the sound I was able to coax out of that instrument. 

An angle that is a mere half degree off wouldn’t necessarily be noticed close up, but stretch that line out fifty feet, and you have a problem. At the beginning, the difference between pregnant and not pregnant is tiny, but nine months down the road, it is a big difference! Speaking of children, Linda and I have counseled couples for years about raising kids with this advice: “If it won’t be cute at fifteen, it’s not cute at five.” I am regularly amazed at the way parents allow their children to talk to them, or how they side with the disrespectful and disruptive behavior of their children against school administrations that are hard pressed to impose even minimal discipline in the classroom. 

At the outset, a small investment in savings may not seem like much, but given a few years and compound interest, that little bit may turn out to be quite a nest egg. 

In life, a little indiscretion can bring down an entire administration, a little deception can lead to disaster. And personally, the little courtesies and kindnesses we offer one another can lift someone from despair to hope, while angry, bitter words can result as we have seen, in violence and the unraveling of society. 


The small, daily disciplines of prayer, meditation, Scripture reading and memorization, can supply just enough spiritual strength to help a person resist temptation, to endure persecution, or to stay strong when one’s health, job, or marriage evaporates. It’s easy to neglect the little things; they don’t seem to matter much at first, but the Scripture cautions us, “How can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” It doesn’t say we reject it; only that we neglect it (Hebrews 2:3). I am thankful for the reminder today to pay attention to the small stuff. It is, contrary to those who say otherwise, worth sweating.

No comments:

Post a Comment