The Little Things That Could...

Do you ever ask yourself, "What is the main thing here? When it's all said and done, what really matters?"

Maybe you haven't put it into those exact words, but deep within us our hearts long to know that we really made a difference, somehow, somewhere - to somebody.

Well, the good news is God wants you to make a difference, too. And sometimes the steps we have to take are just little ones...

Jeremiah the prophet was giving one of Israel's kings a talking to, letting him know that God wasn't too happy with his performance to date. He reminded this king that his father, King Josiah, had done a lot better job in his day of pleasing God. Here is what he said:

"Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well.

Was not this knowing Me?" says the Lord. (Jeremiah 22:15, 16)

"Was not this knowing Me?" Are the poor and needy really the big thing with God?

The Lord places a lot of importance on helping the poor and needy. It's right up there with justice and righteousness.

In the end, it's the little things that really matter. A word of encouragement to someone losing hope; a hot meal to someone lacking resources and self-respect; a pair of new shoes to someone who has worn theirs out trying to survive the daily grind of life.

Sometime little things don't seem to go very far...at first.

This fellow was perched on a large rock outside my window yesterday morning. I took a lot of photos, and it was easy because he didn't move much.

But when I looked out the window an hour later, he was gone.

Try a simple act of kindness; sacrifice something even if you don't think it will make a huge difference to the cosmos as a whole. The truth is, you just don't know how far it will go. The truth is, God does.

Even just a cup of cold water matters...because it's like He says: "This is knowing Me."