THE
By
Shelby G. Floyd
All things bright and beautiful,
All things great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
--Cecil
Frances Alexander, 1815-1895
Long ago
when God's people were rebuilding the temple, the prophet Zechariah asked this
question,
"For who has despised the day
of small things?” (Zechariah 4: 10.)
After
all these years there are still many who despise the day of small things. This week I received a little circular that
described the “Little Things” that saved the lives of those who survived the
attack on the
"As you might know, the head of one Company got
in late that day because his son started kindergarten.
Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to
bring doughnuts.
One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go
off in time.
One was late because of the being stuck on the
One of them missed his bus.
One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time
to change.
One’s car wouldn’t start.
One went back to answer the telephone.
One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as
soon as he should have.
One couldn't get a taxi.
One man put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took
the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a
blister on his foot. He stopped at a
drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why
he is alive today.”
These are the kind of "LITTLE THINGS" that
annoy us so much. But I am sure that
everyone of these people who are alive today because of these "Little
Things" will not be nearly as frustrated in the future when things like
these happen to them again.
In
Our World of Big Things, Little Doesn’t Count Much
We live in a world of big things.
Our cities are getting bigger, our buildings are taller and bigger,
business is bigger, budgets are bigger and we will have to admit that our
problems are also bigger. In this world of bigness, there is an attitude that
one person doesn’t count for very much, whether it is for good or whether it is
for bad. So today people are tempted to
do evil. They will say, “Well what will it matter if I do a little evil? Nobody
will know about it, and it won’t count for much, for I’m just one person.” Then
on the other hand, in the church, many times people will say, “Well, I’m just a
little person, and I can’t do very much for good, so I won’t do anything.” Our
lesson is designed to emphasize the importance of little things. God judges and
reckons people on individual character and work. So I want you to know that
even though you are just one person, and though you may not have great talents,
what you can do as an individual is important in the sight of God.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE THINGS ILLUSTRATED
Little Horseshoe Nail
Let me give you an illustration of
the importance of little things as was stated by one of our greatest statesmen,
scientist and philosophers in the early days of our country. Benjamin Franklin, in his Poor Richards
Almanac, pointed out the importance of little things. He said:
For
the want of a nail, the shoe was lost,
For
the want of a shoe, the horse was lost,
For
the want of a horse, the rider was lost,
For
the want of a rider, the battle was lost,
For
the want of a battle, the kingdom was lost
All
for the want of a horseshoe nail.
I believe that
points up the importance of little things. A little horseshoe nail
theoretically could cause a kingdom to be lost.
Because
Of Little Things We Do Nothing!
Someone has said, “Between the
great things that we cannot do, and the little things that we will not do, the
danger is that we shall do nothing.” I believe that well sums up the
situation. Sometimes we want to do great big things, and yet, we don’t have the
power and ability to do those things, but then we look at the small things that
we can do, and we look down on them with contempt and say, ”Well I won’t do
those things, they are beneath my dignity.” We then end up doing nothing.
Little
Drops Of Water—Small Fire
Let’s look at the importance of
small things in several different areas. A small drop of water is not very
much, but enough of them can fill a mighty ocean or a raging sea. Julia
Fletcher Carney said, “Little drops of water, little grains of sand make the
mighty ocean and the pleasant land; so the mighty minutes, humble though they be, make the mighty ages of eternity.” A small match is
not very large is it? But think what a
small match can do for a man that is freezing to death. It could start a fire
that would save his life. A small fire is not very much, but according to
legend, it was a cow that kicked over Mrs. O’Leary’s lantern and caused the
great
Galileo
and the Swinging Chandelier
Small things are important, either
for good or for bad. Consider the scientific realm. Back in the middle ages,
there was a deacon or sexton, as they were called then, who left a chandelier
oscillating from side to side. It was a small thing that Galileo just
happened to step into that cathedral at that exact time; he was an observant
man, and looked up and saw that chandelier swinging back and forth, and it
suggested to him the idea of a pendulum. And when you think today how important
a pendulum has been in measuring time and distance, then you see the importance
of small things.
The
Spectacle Maker and the Telescope
I have read
where a spectacle maker’s sons left their father’s eyeglasses laying over the
top of a book with some letters in them. It just happened that they turned the
concaved surfaces on top of each other. When the little boys looked, they
noticed that the characters beneath those glasses were magnified, and it was
pointed out to their father! The scientists heard about this and it wasn’t long
until Galileo had come up with a telescope that magnified three times. Of
course from that small beginning, today we have gigantic telescopes that reach
out into space itself. Small beginning, but it was an important thing.
The
Clapping Lid and Steam Power
Also someone noticed that a pot on
the stove where the lid on the kettle was clapping from the steam that was escaping
suggested the idea of steam power. We know that in the early days of our
country they used steam power, and it was a powerful means to move the gigantic
locomotives, but it was all suggested by a small beginning, just a little old
pot sitting on the stove with the lid clapping, but it suggested the idea that
there was power in steam.
A Tear
in the Eye and Moses
A tear is not very big is it? But
perhaps it was a tear in the eye of the daughter of Pharaoh that saved Moses
when he was in the
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT LITTLE THINGS
Let me give you just a few
statements of what others have thought about little things. Some writer has
said,
“It’s the little
things we do and say that mean so much as we go on our way, what joy or sadness
often springs from just those simple little things.”
Sir Thomas
Buxton said, “There are no little things with God.”
Charles M. Crow
said, “We seek here to play a duet with God, we bring our small weak talents
and they are glorified and multiplied and made useful by, the Master
himself. It is not what we can do, but
what God can do through us.”
Helen Keller
said, “The million little things that drop into our hands, the small
opportunities each day brings leaves us free to use or abuse and goes
unchanging along His silent way.”
You know, God made us, and he made the little creatures out here on
earth. Man is the crowning climax
of all God’s creations. In fact, in Psalms, chapter 8, the Bible says
that God has put all things under the authority of man, the ox, the
sheep, even the fowl and the fish that pass through the sea. God has placed man
in dominion over all of His creation. Sometimes we get lifted up with pride,
and we feel like we can’t learn anything from the little creatures that God has
made beneath us, but we can.
FOUR WISE LITTLE CREATURES
In Proverbs, chapter 30: 24-28, the
wise man Solomon gave us an example of four little creatures from which we can
learn. They are little, but they are wise; and even though man is great, he
can learn from the humble creatures of this earth. In Proverbs 30: 25 he
says, “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are
exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat
in the summer.”
The
Little Ants Are Strong through Preparation
Ant
Teamwork
Now do you know of any creature that
is much smaller than the little ants? I am not aware of any, there may be some,
but ants are mighty small we will have to admit but they are also very wise.
While ants are not strong they do gain strength through preparation and social
organization. They form social groups and work with “ant teamwork!” Myrmecology
is the study of ants. There are 8800
known species of ants and their population of ten million billion is more than
any other of God’s creation. Edward O.
Wilson described the strength of the ant several years ago when he wrote:
“The ant colony
is essentially a factory within a fortress, a splendid arrangement of soldiers,
builders, nurses and other specialists united in single-minded dedication
to...more ant colonies.”
The Ant
and the Grasshopper
I remember when I was a boy that one
of my favorite stories was one of Walt Disney’s stories about the ant and the
grasshopper. Maybe you young people have read it even today. You know the
grasshopper fiddled, and he danced, and had a big time all summer, while the
little ant went about his way busily preparing his food for the winter. But
when winter came and the grasshopper was about to starve to death, he had to go
and ask the ant for some food. There was a lot of wisdom in that story. It was
teaching us that when we are in the summer of youth, we have to prepare
for the autumn of maturity, and ultimately for the winter of death and finally
for the spring of eternity. Learn from the ant the value of preparation:
Proverbs 6:6-11
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little
slumber,
a little folding of the hands to
rest--
and poverty will come on you like a
bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
NIV
Now here is the bit of wisdom we
learn from the little ant. He is
small, he is not strong by himself, but he gains strength through preparation.
We’re not strong when you get right down to it. We think that we are sometimes,
but we’re not. We gain strength by preparing ourselves to meet God, and
by preparing to use our lives in his service:
Jeremiah 8:20
"The harvest is past,
The summer is ended,
And we are not saved!”
NKJV
The
Parable of the Ten Virgins
In Mathew, chapter 25, Jesus told
the parable of the ten virgins. Five of these virgins were wise and five were
foolish. The wise took extra oil in their vessels along with their lamps, but
the foolish took just the oil that they had in their lamps. The Bible
tells us that they all slumbered and slept while the bridegroom tarried but at
“Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to
meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed
their lamps. And
the foolish said unto the
wise, give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered,
saying, not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to
them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the
bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and
the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us. But, he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.”
(Matt. 25:6-12.)
The application of that parable is this: we need to prepare ourselves
while we have time and while we have opportunity. If we do not prepare
ourselves, we will be foolish. We can learn then from the little ant, who is
not a strong people, but he does gain a certain amount of strength because he
prepares his meat in the summer.
Let’s prepare ourselves, just as
Amos the prophet said to the nation of
“Therefore
thus will I do unto thee, 0
Maybe that is
what the Lord is saying to us today, “Prepare your selves to meet me in
judgment and in death.” Anyway, an ant is a small animal but he is
wise in that he prepares himself in the summer for the winter months, which
will surely come.
The
Small Rock Badgers Are Strong in a Strong House
Then Solomon says,
Proverbs 30:26
The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
NKJV
Their Houses Are
In The Rocks
These little
badgers are feeble within themselves, yet they compensate by building their den
in the rocks. It is difficult to reach them because they make
their houses in the rocks and in dens. Now we are a people that are not really
strong. We think that we are strong
sometimes, but when we get to rely on our own strength, we realize how feeble
we are.
The
Church Is Built On a Solid Rock
Like the little small badgers, we
can learn to be wise by not relying upon our own strength, but by taking our
refuge in a strong house. What is our house? Jesus said, “Upon this rock I
will build my church.” (Matthew 16: 18.) The rock there was the fact that
Jesus was the Son of God. The church is built on a great foundation. Paul says,
“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 3: 11.) He says the
church is built upon the foundation of apostles, prophets and Jesus Christ
himself being the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2: 20.) Our refuge should be in
Christ, and in his church for it is truly a strong house. It is the family of
God and God is our Father. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble.” (Psalms 46:1.)
Jesus
Christ is the Rock of Ages
Now while we cannot take refuge in
our own strength and our own houses, we can find strength through refuge in
Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 13: 5-6, the writer says, “I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee.” We need to realize that our strength is in God, and not
in man. Therefore we should not fear what man will do unto us.
Where and on what are you building
your spiritual house? We are either
building on the rock or the sand:
Matthew 7:24-27
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine
and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is
like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great
crash."
NIV
Let’s make our house in the Rock of Ages,
Jesus Christ and his church. We can learn that wisdom from the little rock
badger.
The Little Locusts Are Strong through Unity
Locusts Have No King!
Solomon says, “The locusts have
no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” You know, a lot of times
in the church, not very much is accomplished because everybody wants to be the
ruler or oversee the work. As I used to hear it, when I was a young man working
on the farm, they would say, “We’ve got too many chiefs and not enough
Indians.” You know the locusts are
little, but they don’t have any problem as to who is going to be “the chief”
and who is going to be “the Indian.” They are all Indians. They don’t have any
king or ruler, and yet, each one of them has a certain amount of kingliness in
him.
Strength
through Unity
You know what great and mighty
things that a swarm of locusts can accomplish. How do they accomplish it? They
accomplish it by unity. They go forth, “all of them by bands,” as the writer
says. They work together to accomplish great things. Small people, who are
little, can accomplish great things when a lot of little people or a lot of
small things are put together. All the little drops of water in the ocean make
a great ocean. By ourselves we are not very strong, but when we work together,
and we’re unified under the gospel of Christ, we can accomplish great things. I
heard of this illustration one time: you can take a match stick by itself, and
it is easy to break, but you take a rubber band and tie a hundred matchsticks
together and they are not so easy to break. They are strong.
The
Unity of the Spirit
Think, from the example of the
locusts how strong we can be through unity. Yes, locusts are small things, but
they are exceeding wise and they work together. In Ephesians the Bible
says,
Ephesians
4:3-6
“Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you
were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one
God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
NKJV
Christ’s
Prayer for Unity
In John 17, in the great
intercessory prayer of Jesus Christ, he prayed for all of us that might believe
on him through the apostles’ word. He prayed that we might be one as he and the
Father are one, that we might be able to convince the world that he
is indeed the divine Son of God. Yes, unity preaches a great sermon to the
people in the world. It tells them that we are united with Christ. It tells
them that a house that is not divided is a strong house. Locusts are strong
because they work together.
Laborers
Together With God
In 1 Corinthians 3: 9, Paul says, “For we are laborers together with God.” We’ve got to work together, but we work together under God’s directorship or leadership and under his authority. We can learn from the little locusts. (Compare 2 Corinthians 6:1.)
The
Little Spider Is Strong through Perseverance
The
Spider Takes Hold with Her Hands
Finally Solomon says, “The spider
taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’
palaces.” It doesn’t make any difference whether we’re rich or poor, a
spider will be found in just about every house. You might go into a palace or a
mansion, but somewhere there will be a spider that has spun her web and found
her way into the kings’ house. What is the lesson we gain from the wise little
spider? It is that we can have strength not only by preparation, not
only by taking refuge in a strong house, not only by having unity, but that
there is also strength through constancy or perseverance.
Strength by Determined Effort
The spider takes hold with her
hands, and she doesn’t give up until she has accomplished what she has set out
to do. How many times do we have failures in the church because people start
and they don’t finish? Paul says that he put all things behind him, and he
stretched and reached forth unto that goal of the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-13.) Jesus said that if we put our hands to the
plow and look back, we’re not fit for the
Persevere To the End
We need to learn the lesson of the
lowly spider, that we can accomplish great things for God by persevering to the
very end, by not giving up, by being faithful unto death. The writer of the
book of Revelation says, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee
a crown of life.” (Revelation 2: 10.) Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Paul says in Galatians 6: 9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
not.”
EXHORTATION
Remember, there are no small people
in the church. Every member is important
to God and each other. Think about the lessons
we have learned from little things. Yes, small things are important. Someone
has said,
Shamgar had an ox goad,
Rahab had a string,
Gideon
had a trumpet,
David
had a sling,
Samson
had a jawbone,
Moses
had a rod,
Dorcas had a needle,
All
were used for God.
Are you using the small things that
God has given you? Remember, friends that our Lord said, “He that is
faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust
in the least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16: 10.) Do not despise the day of small things!*
*Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon