An Ordinary Day

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Luke 16:10, ESV)

On a day in July of 1985 Sam Shewmaker gathered his family, and those staying in his house, around the dining room table at his home in Lusaka, Zambia. Before beginning the meal, he read from a little book titled My Utmost for His Highest.

I rather suspect that Sam Shewmaker has forgotten all about that day. It was just a normal day in his life. He was just doing what he normally did. But here I am, thirty-five years later, remembering the event. This morning I took the book My Utmost for His Highest off the shelf. As I did so, I remembered the day when I first heard of the book. A year after hearing Sam read from it, I purchased my own copy. I have made use of it many times through the years.

Oswald Chambers, the author of the book, died in Egypt 100 years ago. I am not sure where Sam Shewmaker is now. But Chamber’s book, and Shewmaker’s use of that book, continues to have an influence on me.

This is not meant as an ad for the book. I write this not to promote that book, but to promote the value of the little things we say and do. A man leading his family in a few minutes of worship at his home in 1985 is still having an effect 35 years later. We heard no voice from heaven that day, the angels did not sing, the sky was not opened. It seemed to be just an ordinary day. It was just an ordinary day. But ordinary days make a difference. Little things that we do, or fail to do, may be remembered by someone decades from now – long after we have forgotten them.

We will have seven days this week. The odds are, they will seem to be ordinary ones. But ordinary sometimes turns into extraordinary, often without our even realizing it.

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10, ESV).