I saw on the news the other day that many retailers are worried about the culture shift that is sweeping the market. It seems like fewer and fewer people want to go to a brick and mortar store anymore. Instead, a growing number of people buy an ever increasing amount of products on line, even groceries. I must admit, I enjoy the convenience of on-line purchasing myself. My wife and I bought almost all of the Christmas gifts that we gave away last year on-line.
Another shift that seems to be happening is a general distrust of large corporations and giant conglomerates. The market seems to be more open to smaller specialty shops and even garage sales or Craig’s List as compared to the old fashioned malls and super-centers.
Jesus may have been ahead of His time because He also spoke about small things. For instance, the mustard seed which is about the same size as the point of your ink pen is pretty small. It takes somewhere around 2,700,000 of them to equal a pound. Compared to the largest seed in the world, the coco de mer (Palm Tree), which weighs in at nearly 40 pounds and is about a foot long, the mustard seed seems to be insignificant. Yet, Jesus chose the mustard seed to illustrate a huge point and challenge our faith. He said that if we “have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Perhaps God is trying to get us to refocus and pounder the huge significance of small things and the difference they really make! The Scripture observes small things over and over again. There is a story about us being as industrious and wise as an ant; there is a story about a little boy (maybe a teenager) who conquered a giant and a kingdom; there is a story about a widow who put two cents in the offering and out gave everyone else in the building that day; there is the story about a little boy who volunteered to give his lunch (two sardines and five biscuits) and Jesus used it to feed maybe 15,000 people; the smallest body part is actually one of the most important, and the list goes on. This leads me to ask myself the question, “Is God as concerned about “bigger is better” things as what I am?
Just maybe, perhaps the essence of mountain-moving, world-shaking, giant-killing, miracle-believing faith is a matter of being faithful in the little things. It seems like God-pleasing faith is simply a matter of having faith in God and being ready to do whatever it is that He asks you to do when He asks you to do it. Practicing the little things like studying the bible, praying, being kind to our neighbors, serving others, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, visiting those who are in prison, proportionately giving our income, and of course developing a habit of regular worship prepares our hearts for that time when God calls our name to bring glory to His name! Perhaps smaller, healthy churches that are practicing the little things are just as pleasing to God as larger churches. Either way, God is looking for people and churches that have mustard seed faith and will respond to Him! Could someone pass the mustard please .
