Joni And Friends Daily Devotional 12 July 2024, Friday Message
TOPIC: The Little Things
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Luke 16:10
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Our backyard is not big. This means the two bougainvillea bushes, the hibiscus, the hedge along the fence, and the silk oak tree in the corner are God’s special gifts. But our one tree is in trouble. It’s beginning to look dry and brown at the twigs. I noticed earlier in the summer that it didn’t flower out and green up as much as it has in the past.
They say that when a tree begins to decay at its root or at its heart, the mischief is first seen at the extreme ends of little branches. When you look closely, you notice that the new growth is dry and brittle.
I can’t help but think of how much like trees we are. Someone once said, “He that despiseth little things shall fall little by little.” We simply must aim to have a Christian walk that, like the sap of a tree, runs through every twig and leaf of our character.
If we fail in the little things, if we ignore our tempers, our tongues, our little white lies, if we ignore the Spirit’s whispers, telling us to do this or not to do that, if we despise the small things, we shall fall little by little.
It doesn’t take a theologian to remind us that decay at the heart of our Christianity will show up in tiny slips of the tongue, small neglect of good habits, or little fudgings with the truth. Have you been feeling yourself inching away little by little? Then keep a watch on the small things. It’s in the small matters of everyday life that the bulk of your witness is lived out.
PRAY: Stir my conscience, Father, when I am tempted to keep incorrect change, tell a little lie, or withhold a truth. I want healthy new twigs on my tree of life.
Joni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization “accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community”