SHOW LOVE TO GOD BY HELPING HIS PEOPLE
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Hebrews 6:10
Our season of being foster parents was both rich and rocky. I recall a six-month period when I was physically and emotionally drained. The day-to-day responsibilities of working part-time and caring for five children nearly did me in. Only by God’s grace and the work of His servants did I make it through.
One evening a dear woman from our church 20-years my senior, came over with armloads of food – enough meals to last through the end of the week. She had done foster care when she was my age and she remembered the extra work it entailed. As she stood in my kitchen and encouraged me, I wept. I didn’t know how to thank her.
She said something to the effect that it wasn’t a big deal. It’s just a small thing. What felt seemingly small and insignificant to her had enormous implications to my heart and health. Her work showed love to God by helping His people (Hebrews 6:10).
God delights in using small things: Moses’ rod (Exodus 4:2), David’s sling (1 Samuel 17:40), the small room on the roof that the Shunammite woman and her husband built for Elisha (2 Kings 4:10), a cup of cold water (Matthew 10:42), two very small copper coins that the widow added to the temple treasury (Mark 12:42), the five small barley loaves and two small fish that a boy gave to Jesus to feed five thousand (John 6:9), and the basket that Paul was lowered in through an opening in the wall (Acts 9:23-25). All of them were small, yet significant, because they were used to show love to God by helping His people (Hebrews 6:10).
The Lord chose Zerubbabel to supervise the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:2, 8). The temple was completed in 516 B.C. according to the command of the God of Israel (Ezra 6:14-15). Yet older Jews were downcast and dismayed. Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing (Haggai 2:3)? Compared to the glory and grandeur of Solomon’s temple, the new temple was small and seemed to lack power and status.
Their reaction must’ve caused Zerubbabel to wonder if bigger is better. Does size trump significance? The Lord spoke truth to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:8-10).
Warren Wiersbe writes, “To the eyes of men, the temple was but a small thing, but to the eyes of God, it was a source of great joy. Do your work to please God and let Him be the final judge.”
PASSION Step: Choose to value your service not by its size, but by its significance in the eyes of God. Show love to God by helping His people.
Faithful to my Lord’s commands,
I still would choose the better part;
Serve with careful Martha’s hands
And loving Mary’s heart.
Charles Wesley
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