If a man does not enjoy a delicious home-cooked meal will he appreciate one served at the finest restaurant in Beverly Hills ?  If I give you the shirt off my back and you don’t appreciate it will you have more gratitude if I give you ten shirts? “For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zech 4: 10).  That is a question God asked Zerubbabel after the Babylonian exile.  Zerubbabel had laid the foundation for the second temple and God was reassuring him that despite trouble and slow progress his hands would complete the task.

     Building a temple consists of many small things.  It is one stone after the next, a little mortar added, careful smoothing, layer upon layer.  That is how we build our careers, our lives and our faith in Christ.  If we fail to learn the lesson of small things our walk with the Lord may more closely resemble a stumble and we will fall short of appreciating the many great blessings He graciously bestows on us.

 

Two Turtledoves

 

     God is interested in small things.  In Deuteronomy chapter 22 Moses instructed the children of Israel what to do if they came across a bird nest with eggs in it.  “But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days” (Deu 22: 7).  It was all right to eat the eggs but the mother bird was to be set free.

     Moses also issued the Fifth Commandment:  “Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged,” (Deu 5: 16 ).  God gives the same promise of prolonged days for sparing the life of a bird as for honoring a person’s father and mother.

     God places great importance on that motorizing spark of energy, or spirit of life, that makes a bird a living being.  Jesus’ parents brought him to Jerusalem according to the law to sacrifice “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Luke 2: 24 ).  The lives of two birds may seem a small thing but they are more important to God than the riches and glory man has struggled over for thousands of years.  If two birds are that important to God imagine how much more important we are.  That is why Jesus said “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Fear not, therefore:  ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12: 7).  There is no treasure God prizes more than the spirit and soul He has endowed each of us with.

 

Positive Momentous Change

 

     We achieve a close relationship with the Lord by appreciating the smallest of things that are important to Him.  Just as Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple stone by stone so did Nehemiah rebuild the great wall around Jerusalem .  Nehemiah’s enemies tried to sidetrack him and he said “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down:  why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?” (Neh 6: 3).  We all suffer setbacks and distractions as we work, stone by stone, towards great things with Jesus.  But the setbacks are temporary when placed on the eternal balance and weighed.

     Each year in Pasadena dozens of floats are decorated with millions of roses for the New Years parade.  Each rose is individually placed, stem-by-stem and petal-by-petal, to create a stunning scene of spectacular beauty and color.  We build our relationship with Jesus the same way those floats are built.  First the beauty of a single rose is appreciated and then combined with others until a thing of great glory is created that exceeds our imagination and our capacity for joy.

     God does not want us to “despise” small things because they form the building blocks for His greatest gifts that lead to positive momentous change in our life that will last through eternity.  He wants us to learn the acquired skill of appreciating the smallest things, like the lives of two small turtledoves, so we can gain appreciation for the things of eternity that are important to Him.  What we will come to learn is these blessings are not small at all, but a glimpse into the fullness of eternity that can’t be viewed in any other way.

 

Copyright Rick Byland

 

Rick Byland is the author of “No Fear:  Moving Mountains and Slaying Dragons” by Strang Communications.  He is a retired Lieutenant Commander (USNR) and a business owner in Southern California .