"Little Things" - From The White Gypsy, by Annette Lyster

* This "devotional" is something I wrote during the Lamplighter Summer Reading Challenge last year. I have a lot of character sketches and other devotionals like this, some of which I will be posting. I hope it is an encouragement to someone - and go read the book!*

“Little Things”

From The White Gypsy, by Annette Lyster

    “Oh, it’s just a little thing!” Just a little pain, a little unkindness, a little selfishness, a little laziness - who cares about the little things? Gilbert Phayre, the only son left to his mother after a catastrophic train accident, did not care much about little things. He loved his mother and she idolized him; he was always ready to show her affection whenever any “big” problem arose - so why give up his own pleasure when she had some little request?

    The trouble is that “little” things lead to great things. Gilbert had no idea how he pained his poor mother on an almost daily basis by constantly following his own preferences rather than hers. Of course, she was happy to yield to him, but how much happier would she have been if he had showed the loving deference of a son, and yielded to her? He helped keep her in a state of mournful, nervous misery, largely because she could not trust him in the “little things.” He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much - and the reverse is quite as true: He that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. (Luke 16:10)

    We all have great power for good when we pay attention to little things. As Keith said when parting from George and Willie at school: “Catch your foxes while they’re little… and kill them before they eat your grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2:15). It is the “little” things of life that make up the “big” things in the long run, and God pays attention to both, therefore we should too.

Available:

Free on Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=4BgCAAAAQAAJ&hl=en

Hard copy from Lamplighter:

https://store.lamplighter.net/white-gypsy-the-p382.aspx

The Top Eight Influential Books in My Life

     Have you ever considered which books have had the greatest impact on your life? Besides the Bible, which obviously is the most important Book, I have read hundreds, maybe thousands, of books and they all have more or less helped shape my thinking, but in considering which ones really impacted my thinking, only a handful stand out distinctly. Some are thoroughly Christian, such as The Pilgrim's Progress, and some are classics, like Ben Hur. A few are comparatively unknown, or like The Heir of Redclyffe, were once bestsellers, but now receive only a passing mention in some encyclopedia and are almost entirely out of print. Please note that I do not recommend all these books for all readers; this is simply a list of the books that rise above the crowd when I mentally review the literature I have read. They are not listed in order of importance, because I could not decide on which were the most important. Read them, and see for yourself.