He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10
Many years ago, a man with a large retail business hired several young men to work in his warehouse. He took the lads into the warehouse to meet the foreman, who put most of them to work unloading carts of merchandise. But two of the young men were taken to separate rooms at the back of the warehouse. As they entered the rooms, the young men noticed that everything there was in a clutter. Packing boxes were partially emptied, with tools and pieces of lumber lying around the floor and on the shelves. All sorts of items were on the shelves in no particular order, and many more items were piled in a jumble throughout the room. Each young man was assigned to one of those rooms, and was told to place the room in order, the best they knew how. Later that day, one young man reported that his room was finished. The foreman checked the room and found that all the clutter was merely moved back to the sides of the room, leaving most of the floor clear. Two days later, the second young man reported that his room was ready for inspection. The foreman was impressed with the way in which everything was in perfect order, with items lined up on the shelves and everything neat and tidy. When he informed the owner of the results, the owner promptly fired the first young man, and assigned the second young man to be warehouse foreman to replace the foreman who was retiring.
It is often difficult for us to understand the importance of being faithful in that which is least. When it comes to the Lord’s business, we might think some things are unimportant, and not worth our time. We fail to grasp that our Lord may be using the small things to test us for fitness for greater things. A young man may aspire to be a preacher, for example, and feel it not worthwhile for him to assemble packets of Gospel tracts to distribute. But tasks such as assembling tracts, arranging chairs for meetings, sweeping floors, and providing people with a ride to the meetings are all part of the training process. Could we really trust someone who could not do the small things well to handle the bigger tasks?
We have encountered young men who had their own ideas on how things should be done in God’s Assembly, and have set out to secure a place for themselves on the Assembly oversight. These young men desire to lead without having first learned how to be led. That’s not the way it works in the things of God. In fact, that’s not the way it works in the world, either. The Lord Jesus in our text is explaining a principle of life that we need to remember.
Are we faithful in small things? If not, that will explain why God has not entrusted bigger things to us. – Jim MacIntosh