All of life is a risk, and sometimes the smallest of risks can cause the biggest danger, like a cut that becomes infected.”
–C.J. Petit (Retribution)
“For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
–Zechariah 4:10(NKJV)
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Maybe you have heard that “practice makes perfect.” Don’t you believe it! The truth of the matter is that “perfect practice makes perfect.” A person can’t go out and haphazardly practice or work. They must be diligent in their practice. The foundations must continually be practiced and practiced correctly. Bad habits are easy to form, but on the opposite note, hard to break.
I learned a long time ago to do it right the first time (“stupid!”). Repeating a task is a waste of time and that shows poor stewardship. You want to be greater, given greater tasks, then develop your ability in the small things that are given to you. Develop your mind, your muscles, your stamina, so that when larger things come your way, if they ever do, then you’ll be able to handle them. William Barclay puts it this way, “The reward of work well done was more work to do. The greatest compliment we can pay a man is to give him ever greater and harder tasks to do. The great reward of God to the man who has satisfied the test is more trust.” I have seen over and over that this is true.
You want to be strong and develop yourself, whether mentally or physically, then you must work at it. One pushup may be all you can do today, but if you are satisfied with that then you’ll never get stronger. And so many times I have seen individuals refuse to work on the little things that will make them better. If you do not practice the basic fundamentals and develop the basic skills and strength you will never be given the task of going higher. “If we discipline and train our bodies, they will grow ever fitter and stronger; if we do not, they will grow flabby and lose much of the strength we have.” (Barclay) This is true of the mind, and I will add, of the spirit as well.
One of the greatest compliments I received from my Dad involved a little thing. Dad was a truckdriver, but I was given the task to back the truck up to the house when my folks were moving. I pulled back, putting the truck right in place. Dad smiled at me, “I couldn’t have done it better myself.” A little thing, backing up a truck, but it held great meaning for me. You want rewards, recognition, position, then get busy with the little things, and doing them right.
I have heard people use the verse, “Well done, my good servant!” (Luke 19:17, NIV) Look at that verse carefully. We often misquote it by rendering it, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Looking at the complete verse we see the “faithful” come into play. “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'” (NIV) The NKJV translates it this way, “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities.'”
Let me ask, when you first received a credit card, did you have the tendency to use it on small things? All of a sudden those incidental expenses became something extravagant. Remember in all things we are to be good stewards; that includes doing the small, redundant, mundane things. During the Vietnam War, many complained that the M-16 jammed too easily. The rifle was an excellent weapon, but had no tolerance for grit or grime, those little things that might cause it to jam. The wise soldier would make sure, doing the mundane task, of making sure he kept his rifle spotless and clean. Hmmm, I wonder how much time we work on our spiritual weapons and lives keeping them spotless and clean? Fenelon said, “Whoever knows how to put the small things to good use, spiritual as well as temporal, accumulates great wealth.”
Before you can leap and bound, you must first learn to walk. To walk, you begin with small steps. Work with what the Lord has given you in all areas of your life. Take hold of this great truth that Barclay expounds, “There is no such thing as standing still in the Christian life. We either get more or we lose what we have. We either advance to greater heights or we slip back.” Perhaps, it would do us good to look more closely and consider the story that Jesus told of the Master and the Servants.