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Thoughts on faithfulness to take us into the weekend.
It was Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, who is said, on his death bed, to have uttered in his native Welsh language, ‘Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd,’ which translated means, ‘do the little things in life.’ I am sure he had in mind the words of Jesus in Luke’s gospel, ‘“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much…’ Luke 16:10
There was a man who was faithful in the little things. He frequented the same place of worship for years, practised the same spiritual exercises, prayed the same liturgy, confessed and worshipped God in the same way.
He heard of revivals in different parts, but he didn’t go to see. He was told of prophets proclaiming the imminence of Christ, but he didn’t go to listen. He heard of folk who had gone up a mountain, or into a wilderness to await deliverance, he didn’t join them. He simply frequented the same place of worship for years, practised the same spiritual exercises, prayed the same liturgy, confessed and worshipped God in the same way.
One day a young married couple walked into his place of worship carrying a baby, an eight day old baby boy, and the faithful man got to hold the Son of God, the consolation of Israel, and the Saviour of the world in his arms and bless the boy and his parents, prophesying over them. All for the sake of a faithful man who trusted God’s promises, and proved faithful in the little things. His prayer is one of the most wonderful prayers in the Bible:
‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
that you have prepared in the presence of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.’ Luke 2:22-35
That we should be able to speak such a prayer at our end, to say we did the little things in life, were faithful in them, and were trusted with so much is an unimaginably great thing to think about.
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