So for the past few months God has been working on something in my life.  He has been working on my diligence.  Luke 16:10 tells us, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.”  This verse has not gotten out of my head for weeks!  It’s like a song playing on repeat.  If I want God to bring new opportunities into my life I have to work to show Him that I can do it.  I have to show Him that I can be faithful in the little things.

Those little things, no matter how insignificant they seem to be, show Him I am capable of being diligent over anything.  No matter how mundane you think a task is in your everyday life do it with enthusiasm.  Romans 12:11 (NLT) says, “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”.  In the God’s Word Translation this verse reads, “Don’t be lazy in showing your devotion. Use your energy to serve the Lord.”.  See?  When you are diligent with the little, you are showing your devotion to God; and there is not a devotion too small that doesn’t please Him.

If I make this a habit in my everyday life with my everyday little things  then when the large ones come my way I will already have the tools I need to be faithful in the large ones.  Luke 16:10 goes on to say, “But if you are dishonest in the little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”.  How can I know how to react or have a good attitude or be diligent toward a huge responsibility if I never knew how to react or how to have a good attitude or how to be diligent with a small responsibility.

Here’s an example.  I have been teaching my kids to keep their rooms clean.  I didn’t start off by saying, “Here’s the furniture polish and vacuum.  Now go clean your room.”  Those little eyes would have looked up at me in disbelief.  Even if they had tried their best the rooms would not have been done correctly.  I can just see it now…toys under or on top of the bed or perhaps just thrown into the closest.  Furniture soaked in polish.  Maybe even soaked into the carpet.  Toys in the vacuum.  Maybe even a broken vacuum because they ate something with it they shouldn’t have.  Complete chaos.  I have to teach them how to clean their rooms little by little.  This has not been something that I have been trying to teach them for just the past couple of days or weeks.  I have been teaching them since they were toddlers.  This is on going.  When they were small I taught them how to put their toys back into the bucket when they were done playing.  I taught them to look around to make sure nothing was left behind.  As they got bigger I taught them where the bucket went when they were done putting the toys in.  As they got older I showed them how to make their bed.  Then how to straighten out their closet.  How to throw their dirty clothes in the hamper.  How to hang up their clothes or put them away in drawers.  Then how to clean the furniture.  Now we are working on how to vacuum their rooms.  Am I teaching them this so I can have a clean house?  Of course!  That’s looking at in the short term.  In the long term I want them to know how to keep their room clean in college and how to keep a clean house/apartment when the time comes.  I am teaching them something they will need to know when they get older.  Along the way they are learning how to be “faithful in the little” so that one day they will be “faithful in large ones.”  How can your Heavenly Father trust you with the large responsibilities when you don’t do your best or you don’t know how to do the small ones first?  Talk about feeling convicted when the Lord showed me that!

“We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.”,  Hebrews 6:11 (NIV).  God wants us to fulfill the calling He has placed on our lives.  He has shown me I need to be diligent in the small everyday tasks He has assigned for me.  Only then will bigger and better assignments come along.  How can I expect Him to make my dreams and desires a reality if He can’t trust me with them?