When you study the Bible you realize that big things to the world are small things to God and small things to the world are big things to God. For instance, we consider nations to be big. The population of China is nearly 1.4B. The land mass of China is 3.7M square miles [the USA is 3.8M square miles]. That’s huge. Yet Is 40:15 says, “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” What’s big to us is very little with God.
On the other hand, we read in Matt 10:29-30, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” An individual sparrow and an individual hair are nothing to us. Yet, God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground and knows the exact number of the hairs of your head. God takes notice of very small and seemingly insignificant things. Consider Ps 50:9-11. Like a hunter managing his deer who knows each buck on his ranch, God knows ever beast and all the fowls. He knows each and every one.
We are prone to overlook and neglect small things that turn out to be big things to God. So, we want to consider these small things today and recognize that little things matter to God.
Little sins matter to God – Jas 2:10 – one sin is enough to send you to hell. People say, “I never killed anybody.” But have you had a foolish thought? [Prov 24:9]. Gal 3:10 says, “Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” People routinely break the first commandment, which is the most important of them all. Imagine, then, how many of the little ones they break. Uzzah died because he merely touched the ark to stabilize it. Don’t think for a minute that your “little” sins are insignificant.
Once you are saved, you have a tendency to let the little things slide. But Paul said, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” [1 Cor 5:6]. When you let a little sin go, it spreads. You must deal with your sins, no matter how insignificant they may seem to you. Jesus died for them.
Little children matter to God – Matt 18:1-6 – we realize the doctrinal application of this passage is primarily to Israel and the kingdom of heaven. However, the principle is true that whosoever humbles himself as a little child is the greatest. In Mk 10:14, Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” It is hard to comprehend the great value of children in the ministry. To work with them, to win them, to teach them, to help them grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus is of great importance to God. They need to know how much God is interested in them [Matt 18:10-14] so that they will desire to know him and live for him as they grow older. And remember that the great care we take to safeguard them and to ensure their safety here is very important to God.
Little gifts matter to God – Lk 21:2 – Of all that was going on in the temple this particular day, Jesus notices “a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.” Her gift was so small that it wold have been counted on the right side of the decimal. But it was a big deal to God. You may not think that your little gift amounts to much; but it is a big deal to God when it is all you can do. Don’t hold back just because you think it is “nothing.” In Jn 6:9, a lad gave five barley loaves and two small fishes. In the hands of the Creator, they were enough to feed 5,000 men plus their wives and children.
Little acts of kindness matter to God – Mk 9:41 – Jesus said that he would reward a person who gave “a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ.” In Matt 25:37-40, at the judgment of the nations, the sheep are given a kingdom because they did something kind for one of Jesus’ brethren . He said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto ONE of the LEAST of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” A small act of kindness done for just one of the least of his brethren yields a kingdom. In Pastor Harley Keck’s church last Wednesday, the folks were praising the Lord for seemingly small and insignificant things God had done. I learned that night that those things were big deals to God. So, don’t neglect to do little acts of kindness for others when you see the opportunity and need.
Conclusion: little things matter to God. Your little sin sent Jesus to the cross and your little life matters to him. He wants you to be saved today. If you are already saved, then don’t hesitate to help the little children, to make the little gifts, to do the little acts of kindness. They may not seem like much to you, but they matter to God.