Doing the Small Things Right
Loving God with all your heart is a lofty commandment. Thankfully, we also have the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, and by doing that, we practice what it means to love God.
Read Time: 2 minutes
John brings out the principle when he says,
Loving your neighbor seems so insignificant compared with loving God. Still, it’s by doing the seemingly small things right where our character comes out and determines whether we have a genuine relationship with the God of heaven.
doing the small things right is a reflection of what it means to love God
We have an example of the principle in today’s reading from Jeremiah 35. The prophet uses the family of the Rechabites to illustrate the point that doing the small things right is a reflection of what it means to love God. In an enacted parable, Jeremiah told the sons of Recab to “Drink wine.” (v5). In response, they said,
The sons of Rechab are an excellent example of the command “Honor your father and your mother” (Exo. 3:12). Jeremiah then applies it to what the people should have done in relationship to their heavenly father,
It wasn’t so much the command itself that was important, but the commitment of the sons of Jonadab to honor their father. That’s the kind of attitude which not only produces godly relationships but can be transferred to our relationship with God.
We can’t make the excuse that we’re loving God by keeping up our ecclesial responsibilities, but not form godly relationships with one another. The two go hand-in-hand and are a reflection of each other.
Another way to illustrate the principle is to use a negative example. The connection between animal cruelty and domestic violence has been so well established that it is known as “The Link.” It might seem that harming an animal is nothing at all like hitting your spouse or children. But the two are inextricably linked. Be cruel to animals, and you will likely be cruel to human beings, including your family, and that’s one of the reasons why law enforcement takes animal cruelty so seriously.
If we want to be part of God’s eternal household, then we need to practice, in our ecclesias, the kind of relationship we want with God. By doing the seemingly small things, being kind to one another, patient, and loyal, we will be able to adjust far better to the enormous responsibility given to us in the Kingdom.
Richard Morgan
Simi Hills, CA