The power of small things
Contents
Bible: Matthew 18:1-10
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We tend to prefer big ones. That's why people who throw away the big things and take the small things are said to be foolish. Preferring something big like this is the general mindset of the people we live in today.
In Zechariah 4:10, God gives a terrible rebuke. “Who is it that you despise for small things?” is a rebuke. This verse says that after the first temple built by Solomon was torn down, the people of Israel who were in the Babylonian captivity will complete the second temple. However, as it is a temple built after the exile, it looks shabby compared to the First Temple. So, God is rebuking the Israelites for their evaluation that the temple is humble. In this way, we can see that God blesses and values small things.
In the 14th chapter of Matthew, there is an incident of five fish, and it is recorded that ‘five thousand people were fed’. But that 5,000 is the number minus women and children. People at the time did not think about the human rights of young children at all. It was the idea at the time to think of it as a thing that adults could do whatever they wanted.
In the 18th chapter of Matthew we read today, he gives a message that shocks people at that time. Jesus said to his disciples, who were preventing the little children from coming, “Unless you are like this little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” Verse 10 says, “To welcome this little one is to welcome me.”
Today, children are more precious than they were back then. Today's era can be said to be an era in which excessive love for young children is a problem. So today, thinking about how Jesus treats the little things with importance, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become wise and wonderful parents who raise the little children we have given you as a gift according to God's will.
An important message from Jesus is never to despise the little things. “If you make one of your little ones stumble, you would rather tie up a millstone and dive into the water to die.”
Moving on to Matthew 25, there are three judgments. The first is the story of the parable of the ten virgins, and the second is the parable of the talents. And the third is the parable of the sheep and the goats. Those who will enter heaven, put them on the right, and those who will go to hell, put them on the left. But what is the criterion for judging entry into heaven today? That is, whoever gives even a cup of water to a little child will enter Heaven, and anyone who despises the little child will not enter Heaven.
Actually, there are some things that we should pay attention to while looking at the Bible. God's way of saving the Israelites after 430 years of slavery in Egypt was by setting up their young son Moses as the leader of the nation. It was Samuel, the son of Hannah, who was suffering because there was no child, who saved the time of the judges without order. The baby born to a pregnant woman who even the innkeeper ignored is Jesus who saved all mankind.
We can see that God does not use big things to accomplish the precious will of salvation, but achieves salvation through small children. What we must remember is that God always accomplishes great things with little things.
The smallest in Israel is a mustard seed. This small mustard seed was planted in the ground, and it soon became a large tree. It is the secret of heaven that it becomes a big tree and grows into a tree where birds come and nest. The very small things can become great because there is life in them.
The early church was in the midst of persecution by the Jewish leaders. But they gathered together and prayed earnestly. The very small church was the Jerusalem Church. However, as the church grew day by day, 5,000 people gathered, and churches were established in Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, and all over the world. A small mustard seed became a large tree. Because the life of the Holy Spirit came upon that small church, it was able to grow into a large church.
Where is the way for our children to be honored on this earth and in the world? Knowing a few more English words and solving a few more math problems will never give you any honor. Just as God gave a dream to David and a dream to Joseph, God must give our children dreams. We believe that God will honor and use our children according to the dream he has given us.
Where can our children have God's dreams? That is, while worshiping in this temple, God places His hands on our children's heads and anoints them with oil. It is to plant a precious dream that will never be erased in our children's hearts during worship.
How far will your parents take you? If God anoints you with oil, God gives you dreams, and God takes responsibility for you, then no matter what anyone says, you will become a noble person on this earth and in the world. Small things have power. In the name of the Lord, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become parents who bring their children to the temple in order to become our children who receive the oil of the Holy Spirit and the dreams of heaven come to our children.
2010-05-13 17:11:08