Believing Just a Little
Luke 17:1-10
Yesterday we took a look at the first simple step in our Journey of Faith which is learning to forgive. The second step is believing just a little. Jesus does not ask you and me to have a mountain’s worth of faith, just a seed's worth. A young boy by the name of James had a desire to be the most famous manufacturer and a salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese and began with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy. After making his cheese, he would load his wagon and he and Paddy would drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work.
One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, "Paddy, there is something wrong. We are not doing it right. I am afraid we have things turned around and our priorities are not where they ought to be. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives." The boy drove home and made a covenant that for the rest of his life he would first serve God and then would work as God directed.
Many years after this, the young boy, now a man, stood as Sunday School Supt. at North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago and said, "I would rather be a layman in the North Shore Baptist Church than to head the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus."
So, every time you take a bite of Philadelphia Cream cheese, sip a cup of Maxwell House , mix a quart of Kool-Aid, slice up a DiGiorno Pizza, cook a pot of Macaroni and Cheese, spread some Grey Poupon, stir a bowl of Cream of Wheat, slurp down Jell-O, eat the cream out of an Oreo cookie, or serve some Stove-Top, remember a boy, his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James F. Kraft made to serve God and work as He directed.
You see, we have it all wrong when we say, "Well, I don't have that much faith." All it takes is a little boy's faith. I have learned this simple truth: Jesus isn't interested in the quantity of your faith, just the quality of it. It only takes a mustard seed's worth if it's genuine.
Tomorrow we will take a look at the third simple step in our journey of faith!
Questions to Ponder
Do you ever despair in what you are doing?
Do you serve God first and then work as He directs?
Does your faith have quality to it?
In His Service,
Terry Phillips
