Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Little Things - Edward Heppenstall

How particular do you think we ought to be in little things? None of us likes a check list. It does not really deal with how to live the Christian life. There is the danger of losing our sense of proportion, of becoming censorious in trifles. How do you suggest we deal with all the frailties and foibles that belong to human nature?

[It is a] principle that the individual who senses his responsibility in small matters can be trusted in larger things. What we are habitually in small things determines and affects the whole of our moral and spiritual living. What we really are behind all the words and deeds determines our fidelity all the way through.

Our allegiance to God and to His will leaves nothing out. There are no exceptions. There is no situation and no circumstance in life so small that it is not part of our religion. Our faith takes it all in, all there is of us and about us, small and great. This is very much like sculpturing a statue or painting a picture. Details make the difference between a genius and the average man. Great paintings can stand the test of the microscope in the examination of details.

Especially is this true of what we believe and practice. Those who hold a wrong theory as to what is truth, even in small things, find themselves in error. No chain is stronger than its weakest link. No character is stronger than its weakest point. According to a story, a little Dutch boy in Holland saw a small leak in one of the dikes. He tried to plug it up with his finger. If the hole became larger there was danger of the whole dike giving way. Morally and spiritually this is very much to the point.

We are to call upon God and the help of the Holy Spirit to become strong in the small things as well as in the large. We are to be true to Him in all things. We shall triumph at last if we are willing to make every sacrifice that truth may require at our hands. In everything, small and great, we cast our life and our fortune with One who is eternal. It is our privilege to walk in the full light of truth.

Edward Heppenstall, In Touch With God

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