Deuteronomy 30:14

The Word In The Heart

The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. Deuteronomy 30:14.

There was once a little boy called Willie, of whom George Macdonald tells us, who stood by a gate watching the sunset. The sun went down in great clouds of red and gold, and then the colors faded away and the silver moon came into the sky. The little boy, as he looked at them, felt a longing in his heart to do something great and glorious, to be a very famous man.

He came in and asked his sister Kate, “Do you think it is wrong to wish to be great?” But she said she did not know. So he went to bed and dreamed of it while the wind was singing round the cottage, and in the morning the first thought that came into his mind was, “I must begin at once if I want to be great. I must not waste a day.”

But he did not quite know how to begin, so he went to his father and said, “Father, I want to be a great man. Is it wrong?” His father said it was not wrong at all, and he would be very sorry if his boy did not wish to be great.

Then Willie exclaimed, “Oh, I'm so glad! Ill set about being great at once. I'll begin this very night and stick in to my lessons, so as to get ready to be famous. Of course what I'd really like best is to be a king. But I suppose that's impossible. So I think I'll be a field-marshal. It would be grand to gallop about on a fiery steed and wave a shining sword, and have the cavalry and the artillery and the infantry all obeying my word of command. Or I might be an admiral of the Fleet! Then I should sail the seas and sweep the enemy from them with the roar and flash of my guns.”

“Ah!” said his father, “is that your idea of greatness? Why, a puppet dressed up in uniform could wave his sword and flash his guns!”

“But, father,” protested Willie, “it isn't the sword and the guns I really want. It's the glory, you know the being great and high above everybody else that I'm keen on.”

But Willie's father shook his head. “If you think being high up in the world is being great, my boy, I'm afraid you're on the wrong tack. Do you see that book on the highest shelf of the bookcase? Well, if greatness meant being in a high position, then that book would be the greatest in the bookcase. No, Willie, to be what people call ‘ high up in the world' isn't to be great. To be great you must be great in yourself. And I'll tell you the secret of how to be great in yourself. It is this learn to serve others.”

“Oh,” said Willie, “if that's all, I'll begin to serve others right away! Just tell me what I must do.

“Well,” said the father, “I expect there's something you can do here and now to start you on the road of service that leads to greatness.”

“Something here and now!” repeated Willie, more puzzled than ever. “Oh, Dad, please give up teasing and tell me what you really mean.”

“I'm not teasing,” said the father. “But, son, I can't tell you what is the task you must do. It is only God who can do that. Listen to His voice and do what He tells you.”

“I'm listening as hard as I can,” replied Willie, “and I can't hear anybody speaking but you.” “Think,” said his father. “Is there not anything, even quite a small thing, that you ought to go and do?”

“We-l-l,” said Willie very slowly. “There are the dogs. I was in such a hurry this morning that I didn't feed them. It was rather mean of me to starve them. I expect I'd better go feed them.”

“Right, my boy,” said father. “That's what God has been telling you to do.”

“Oh! but it's such a little thing!” cried Willie. “God couldn't possibly care whether I fed my dogs or not. I'd like Him to set me some hard duty.”

“No, Willie,” said his father, “that's your mistake.

The little duty that lies straight in front of you is a great thing in God's sight. And only by doing that little duty can you learn how to be truly great.”

Boys and girls, to do what God gives you to do, whether it is a big thing or a little thing, that is the way to be really great, whether it looks great or not. And you will find that some of the men whom the world calls greatest did just this. They did the duty nearest to them. They listened to God's voice of conscience in their heart, and they were surprised when they found themselves famous. But it was not the fame that made them great, it was the doing of the task that God gave them.