Jots and Tittles.....Oh The Little Things!

One tiny seed can make a great impact.

                        

In the grand ole USA we have this thought process in general: carry on every day in our mundane lives waiting for the big moments to happen.  We just seem to get by on a daily basis.  I can almost guarantee that if you go into work on Monday and ask every co-worker this question, "How are you today?" the majority will reply, "I'm here."

What exactly does, I'm here imply?  That response implies that work and the daily routine is monotonous, boring and something we are obligated to do, but there is no joy in it.  We appear to find joy only in the "special" moments like; weddings, births, promotions, awards, etc.  So, what do we do with the "little" things?

In Christianity we do the same, do we not?  We go through our weekly ritual of services while looking forward to the special services of Easter, Christmas, revival or perhaps a special guest speaker.  We even seem to carry it out in our reading of the Word.

Listen to those who say they are Christians.  Hear their words.  Bring up the subject of sin and see which "sins" are mentioned first.  Chances are you receive a lot of talk on the ones mentioned in Romans 1, yet may never hear Romans 2:13 expounded upon.  That verse says, "For not the hearers of the Torah are righteous in the sight of Elohim, but the doers of the Torah shall be declared right."

James 1:22 says, "And become doers of the Word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves."  

In my post 10 Things The Church Should Be Doing, a couple of weeks ago, I expounded upon this verse and the breakdown of being doers of the Word.  I won't elaborate further on these things, I only want to teach something very critical in Hebraic thought.  We should stop majoring on the majors and major on the minors.

During Yeshua's (Jesus') ministry on earth He performed many great and mighty miracles and tens of thousands of people followed Him.  They were looking for the "pizazz," the red carpet and golden globe moments.  Luke 13:10-16 tells of Yeshua teaching in one of the congregations on a Sabbath.  While teaching He saw a woman there who was all bent over.  She had been that way for 18 years.  Yeshua has compassion on her and heals her, much to the disdain of the Pharisees who respond with a ruling that there are six days of the week for healing, and not on the Sabbath.

After this healing and His rebuttal of the congregational leader it is said in 13:17, "And all the crowd rejoiced for all the splendid works being done by Him."

And what was Yeshua's response?  Read vs 18-21 remembering that He knew their thoughts, "Therefore He said, 'What is the reign of Elohim like"?  And to what shall I compare it?  It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his garden.  And it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the heavens nested in its branches.'  And again He said, 'To what shall I compare the reign of Elohim?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened.'"

Can you understand what He was saying?  Look at it this way; a mustard seed is the smallest seed on the planet, yet one little mustard seed produces a very large plant.  Also, a minute amount of leaven produces a lot of dough!  The ratio of flour to leaven is 128:1, in other words it only takes 1/16 oz of yeast to leaven 8 oz of flour.  A very small and what seems like insignificant amount of something infiltrates and eventually consumes the entire amount.

When reading the Word it is absolutely essential that we remember this rule.  The people of His day even, were looking at the "majors" or things that stood out.  All throughout the Gospels we find examples of the people, especially the religious leaders, pointing out "laws" Yeshua has seemingly broken.  (Do we not do the same today?)  But each time Yeshua turned the conversation inward.

"It is written..." they would say and He would respond with taking their point to a deeper (more minute) level.  He took their placement of importance on something apparently blatant and revealed to them the deepest root to that particular issue.

The great sages taught that when the Torah, (or any scripture for that matter), barely mentions something it would be wise of us to look harder at that something than the words which stand out so very clearly.  It is in the intimacy of these depths we find our closest relationship with Him.

I have always loved the story of Elijah on the mountain.  I Kings 19 tells the story.  Elijah had just gone through a test with the 450 prophets of Baal.  Later as Elijah is on the run from Ahab, he is crying out to G-d and G-d responds in I Kings 19:11-12, "And He (G-d) said, 'go out, and stand on the mountain before G-d.  And see, G-d passed by and a great and strong wind tearing the mountains and breaking the rocks in pieces before G-d, but G-d was not in the wind.  And after the wind an earthquake - but G-d was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire - but G-d was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small voice."

We see the big things in the world today as having G-d's name written all over them.  We see the results of storms, Tsunamis, earthquakes, lightening as well as breathtaking sunrises and lofty views of this great world and are reminded of Him, yet do we think the same when we see a leaf blowing across the yard in September?

We attend a packed house for a worship service or a specialized conference, hearing the latest greatest worship song and think, "Oh my, how strong was the presence of G-d in that place!  I could feel the Spirit!"  Yet do we think and feel the same when we hear the hum of Cicadas in June?

We call out the sins of others which we can see, but do we ever truly realize we are sinners for simply thinking a co-worker is an idiot?  It's in His Word.  If you don't believe me, read it for yourself.  We tend to overlook a tremendous amount of Scripture, because it isn't about big things.  One example: how many times have you read the genealogies with great interest?  There are tremendous nuggets within them which most people never see.

If we will but read the Word looking for the most insignificant things, we will find treasures without measure.  If we will but look at our everyday seemingly mundane activities through the same lens....oh what a difference we would see.

I want to leave you with one last thought.  The next time you hear the hum of insects imagine this, it is the latest and greatest worship song of the insect kingdom to their creator..... Shalom!