don't despise the simple things

We may want to do something great, not necessarily to call attention to ourselves- which would be a sin, but because we want to please the Lord and do well in his eyes. What was pressed home to me Saturday was the need to do well in the simple, humble things. In which the main thing one is doing is simply seeking to be faithful.

I met with a brother. We went over a study guide on forgiveness, beginning a lesson on Psalm 32. All we said I think was Scripturally sound, and it seemed to me inanely simple. So I have to admit I had a kind of contempt for it, probably thinking to myself I'd be glad when it's over. Yet I did enjoy fellowship with the guy I met with, and he seemed to genuinely appreciate our exchange as I sought to be a good listener and encourager, as well as our time of prayer afterwards. And I sensed that the Lord was pleased with that time.

This goes to show that I must beware of thinking I need to do something that is great in the sense of using my gift as well as I can. Yes, I want to do that, but what came home to me from this is that I simply need to be faithful. That this should be my goal. And not to despise the time of what seems to be simple things.

We do like to get beyond the milk to the meat of the word of God. We want to be challenged to grow to be like Jesus, which means to be missional since Jesus himself was missional (as our pastor Jack Brown pointed out to us yesterday). We want to move on. Yet even in the simplicity of those nearly two hours at a nearby bagel, coffee place, I could see that what we did really did move us to that end, as this man expressed the vision he has for a ministry that can impact others.

I want to have that sense of the Lord's approval in my life. Not just to hear it someday, which by grace we hope to. But also to sense it now, that God is pleased with us and what we do. And in that, let's be careful not to despise the humble things and seemingly little tasks. For in such we find ourselves in the way of Jesus.

What might you like to add to this?