"HE Who Despises Little Things, Shall Fall Little By Little."

Faithfulness in littles
(John Colwell, "Little Foxes; The Little Sins 

That Mar the Christian Character" 1882)

"Catch the foxes--
the little foxes that spoil the vines,
for our vines have tender grapes!"
Song of Songs 2:15

The little things of life are most important.

Those who affect to despise the importance

of little things, are in danger of becoming

little people. Certainly no great man will

ever do so. He will the rather prove

his greatness by a hearty recognition

of the truth of the wise saying,

"He who despises little things, 

shall fall little by little."

The GREAT TEACHER drew some

of HIS most beautiful and important

lessons from little things, such 

as little flowers, little birds, 

little dew-drops, little children. 

HE insisted on faithfulness in littles.

My friend, life is great because 

it is the aggregation of littles.

As the coral reefs which rear 

themselves high above the crawling 

sea beneath, are all made up of minute 

skeletons of microscopic animalcules; 

so life, mighty and solemn as having 

eternal consequences--

life that hangs over the sea 

of eternity, is made up of these 

minute incidents, of these trifling 

duties, of these small tasks; and only 

those who are faithful in the least are, 

or can be, faithful in the whole.

Little things make either . . .

  the joy--or the sorrow,

  the success--or the ruin,

  the safety--or the danger,

  the grandeur--or the smallness--

of human life. Illustrations 

of this principle abound.

Little neglects lead to great ruin.

Little precautions lead to great safety.

Little wastings make great losses.

Little savings make great gains.

Little troubles make us miserable.

Little virtues make us godly.

Little vices make us wicked.

Therefore, says inspired Wisdom,
"Catch the foxes--the little foxes
that spoil the vines," which is
equivalent to saying, "I know you
will keep out the more hateful and
destructive full-grown foxes by stopping
all the large holes in the vineyard fence.

Your danger lies in overlooking the smaller 
gaps by which the little foxes may enter,
and thus spoil your vines by robbing
them of the tender grapes."

How forcibly may this advice be
urged upon Christian people!

They will be almost certain to
secure the vineyard against
the intrusion of shameful vices,
destructive sins, and great scandals;
but are they always so careful to stop
the smaller breaches in the fence 
of their Christian character against
the little foxes, lesser sins, smaller
vices, and trifling moral blemishes
which, nevertheless, spoil the loveliness
and perfection of their lives? Judging from
observation and experience, we fear not.

In the following chapters we will point
out some "little foxes" that do much
damage in the Christian vineyard,
and invite our readers to hunt them down!

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GraceGems has just published John Colwell's
helpful and interesting 30 page booklet,
"Little Foxes; The Little Sins That Mar the Christian Character".