We are in little...
...what we will be in much.
What on earth does that mean? Well, Jesus said something similar in Luke 16:10, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” (NAS)
In other words, how we handle situations on a small scale will be how we handle situations on a large scale. Sometimes people feel if they just had more money they would be able to give to God. However, if you are not giving to God with the money He gives you now, you won’t give to Him if you get more. It’s like a number of lottery winners who end up filing for bankruptcy after a few years. Many experts estimate that approximately one third of all lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy. One group of financial advisers estimated that about seventy percent of all lottery winners will squander away their wealth in a few years. They may not file for bankruptcy but the wealth will be gone. Why is that? Since these people couldn’t manage their finances when they were smaller, they’re not going to manage their finances when they’re larger.
We are in little what we will be much.
This truth carries over into our time as well. Do we manage our time well now or are we too busy to spend time with the LORD? Sometimes we think if we just had more time we could accomplish this or that. Yet, everyone has the same amount of time and it is a question of how we manage it. If you do not use your time well now, then even if you quit your job and had an extra forty or fifty hours a week you would not use that time well. J. H. Jowett once said, “I confess as a minister, that the men to whom I most hopefully look for additional service are the busiest men.” (J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership p. 94) Jowett realized that those men could manage their time well and get done what needed to get done.
We are in little what we will be in much.
We also recognize this reality in the area of temptation. If you are willing to tell a “little, white lie” then you will probably be willing at some point to tell a “big, fat lie.” I think that is what Jesus meant in Luke 16:10.
I once heard that twentieth century theologian Francis Schaeffer use to choose something to say ‘no’ to every day. One day he might refuse salt for the whole day and another day he might refuse coffee. Someone asked him about this odd practice and he said that by learning to say ‘no’ to the small things he disciplined himself to say ‘no’ to temptation. If we give into the small temptations we will likely given into the large ones. Jesus said, “…he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
We are in little what we will be in much. Let us manage the little things of our life well so we can be faithful in the much.
What on earth does that mean? Well, Jesus said something similar in Luke 16:10, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” (NAS)
In other words, how we handle situations on a small scale will be how we handle situations on a large scale. Sometimes people feel if they just had more money they would be able to give to God. However, if you are not giving to God with the money He gives you now, you won’t give to Him if you get more. It’s like a number of lottery winners who end up filing for bankruptcy after a few years. Many experts estimate that approximately one third of all lottery winners eventually declare bankruptcy. One group of financial advisers estimated that about seventy percent of all lottery winners will squander away their wealth in a few years. They may not file for bankruptcy but the wealth will be gone. Why is that? Since these people couldn’t manage their finances when they were smaller, they’re not going to manage their finances when they’re larger.
We are in little what we will be much.
This truth carries over into our time as well. Do we manage our time well now or are we too busy to spend time with the LORD? Sometimes we think if we just had more time we could accomplish this or that. Yet, everyone has the same amount of time and it is a question of how we manage it. If you do not use your time well now, then even if you quit your job and had an extra forty or fifty hours a week you would not use that time well. J. H. Jowett once said, “I confess as a minister, that the men to whom I most hopefully look for additional service are the busiest men.” (J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership p. 94) Jowett realized that those men could manage their time well and get done what needed to get done.
We are in little what we will be in much.
We also recognize this reality in the area of temptation. If you are willing to tell a “little, white lie” then you will probably be willing at some point to tell a “big, fat lie.” I think that is what Jesus meant in Luke 16:10.
I once heard that twentieth century theologian Francis Schaeffer use to choose something to say ‘no’ to every day. One day he might refuse salt for the whole day and another day he might refuse coffee. Someone asked him about this odd practice and he said that by learning to say ‘no’ to the small things he disciplined himself to say ‘no’ to temptation. If we give into the small temptations we will likely given into the large ones. Jesus said, “…he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.”
We are in little what we will be in much. Let us manage the little things of our life well so we can be faithful in the much.
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