Faithfulness (3)
Pastor James Merritt said, ‘The other day, I asked my beautiful wife if she married me for my looks.’ She replied, ‘No, I married you for your brains – it’s the little things that count!’ Merritt was joking, of course. What really counts in life is faithfulness in little things; it’s how dependability begins, grows, and matures. Longfellow wrote, ‘Most people would succeed in small things if they weren’t troubled with great ambition.’ Sometimes we think we’re too big for small things; we would rather get on with what we perceive as bigger, more important matters. But here is how Jesus sees it: ‘"Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much." So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? "And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?’ (Luke 16: 10-12 CSB). If you want to succeed on the job, come to work on time; stick with the job until it’s finished; when you see something that needs to be done, do it, even if it’s not in your job description. Give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; take your designated lunch break, not a three-hour paid holiday; report your expenses truthfully; support the team; and uphold the company’s reputation (however, if there is a genuine problem in this area, you should consider speaking out). In other words, be faithful on the job: ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, …’ (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV). That’s the kind of faithfulness God honours.