Little Deeds

A builder once asked one of his men to take a certain piece of stone and carve on it a leaf in accordance with a design which he gave him. The man would much rather have carved a nice marble ornament; but he went for his sharp tools and commenced to carve the piece of stone. When he had finished this, he was told to carve a leaf on another stone, and a piece of a tree branch on yet another. After weeks of hard work all his task was finished; but the man wondered what all the carved stones were for. One day, whilst he was walking through the town, he noticed a new building, and on the front of it a beautiful picture in stone.

He went nearer to the building, and then saw that some of the stones were those that he had carved. "How glad I am," he said, "that I did my work well. I might have spoiled the whole picture if I had carved the stones badly."

We all have a little piece of work to do, "you in your small corner and I in mine." We cannot yet see the completed picture, but one day we shall. If we all do our little part well we shall be helping to make life more beautiful for others, as well as for ourselves. If our work is neglected or badly done we shall bring unhappiness to others, dissatisfaction to ourselves, and be marring the picture that is of God's design.

We need to constantly pray that God will help us to do what He has planned for us with all our might and all our strength, so that one day when we see God's completed picture we may be able to say: "I am glad that I did my part as well as I could." "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might."