Taking care of the little things

Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them." Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. – 1 Samuel 17.17-22

When God looked at the next king He says He would look on the heart. When Samuel went through all of Jesse’s sons he came to the youngest, David, who the Bible calls ‘a man after God’s own heart.’

As we go through David’s life we find out that being a man after God’s heart did not make him perfect, but there are things we can learn about his character.

The first thing I notice is his attention to detail and his responsibility. The older brothers are out fighting the Philistines. Jesse calls David to take provisions to the front.

How exciting that must have been. The little brother gets to go out and see the action!

But David had a job. He was taking care of the sheep. The easy thing to do was to say ‘forget those dumb sheep, taking provisions to the front is the important thing!’

David doesn’t just head off. Before he does he makes sure that his sheep are cared for. He didn’t do the big things until he made sure the little things were sorted out.

Attention to the little things is a mark of character. It is an example we can take for ourselves in serving our Lord. It is not always exciting and glamorous, but no matter what we need to make sure that we are responsible to make sure the little things are sorted as well as the big things.