February 23, 2024

I had lunch this week with an old friend that I’ve known for many years. He’s a successful businessman who runs his own company. When I met him, he was in high school. His father owned a company, and he got his start working in it. But he didn’t work in management. He didn’t work in sales. He didn’t work in advertisement or marketing. He didn’t even work as an office assistant. He got his start cleaning the restrooms in the office building on the weekends. His father, who had built the company from the ground up, knew something that a lot of people don’t know. You don’t help your children by simply giving them everything in life. Learning to work hard at the lowest levels would serve to forge character that would be needed at the higher levels. That boy who started out cleaning restrooms on the weekends now owns the building his father once owned.
There is an entitlement epidemic in our culture that is quite concerning. Many people want to be given much without ever really producing much. They want top pay, full benefits, big bonuses, and lots of vacation time. And they want it RIGHT AWAY. There’s often a huge letdown when they discover that life mostly doesn’t work that way. Instant YouTube millionaires are a lot rarer than most realize.
Jesus makes the same point when it comes to blessings and entrustments of God. The words of the master were the same to the man given five bags of silver as it was to the man given two bags. “You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.” In other words, prove yourself hardworking and diligent with the small things God gives you, and He’ll be able to trust you with bigger things. But if the small things are beneath you, and you feel as if you deserve the bigger, better, brighter spots in the Kingdom, then maybe you don’t understand the Kingdom business at all. Jesus wants to prepare leaders who have the kind of character that embraces servant-leadership, not ego-leadership. If you’re not willing to clean restrooms in humility, you’ll not be able to lead with the right kind of authority. Give your all to the small. Trust God with the promotions. That’s God’s Word for you today.