1 Kings 20:40

Busyness And Business

And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. 1 Kings 20:40.

These words are part of a parable which was spoken by a prophet to a king who had disobeyed the commands of God.

The parable tells of a man who in the midst of a battle had an important prisoner brought to him. He was told that he must guard that prisoner at all costs, and that, if the captive escaped, his own life should be forfeit.

At first he was most watchful and careful, but later he began to weary of his task. The battle was surging past him, men were doing glorious deeds, and here was he condemned to keep guard over a silly old prisoner! Nothing could very well happen to the prisoner right there in the middle of the camp. He would go and strike a blow for freedom and for fame.

So he went. He performed deeds of wonderful valor, and covered himself with glory, and when he returned the prisoner was gone! The most dangerous enemy of his country had got away, and disaster awaited his people.

Now will you notice something about this man? It doesn't say he was idle when the prisoner escaped, it doesn't say he was sleeping or playing, it says he was busy. Yes, but he was busy doing something that wasn't his business. It is good to be busy, but it is not good to be busy about the wrong thing, at the wrong time, and in the wrong place.

I daresay that man thought that the work he chose for himself was much finer and grander than the work he had been set to do, but while he was busy doing the thing he had not been asked to do, he failed in the one thing he had been asked to do.

I think we can learn two lessons from the story of this soldier who betrayed his trust.

1. We can be disobedient just as much in doing what we are not told to do as in doing what we are told not to do.

When a ship captain sets out on a voyage he gets a list of orders from the owner of his vessel. These orders he must obey implicitly and exactly, no matter what happens. The rule is “Obey orders, if you break owners.”

Now, once upon a time the owner of a certain vessel sent the captain with a cargo to the East Indies. The captain had orders as to what kind of cargo he was to bring back. But when he reached his destination and had unloaded, he saw that he would make much more money for his master by bringing back a different cargo from the one he had been told to bring. This he did, and by so doing he made two thousand pounds more money than he would have done had he obeyed orders.

When he arrived home the owner of the vessel paid him his wages and gave him in addition a handsome present. Then he dismissed him. The captain was astonished, but the owner said, “Sir, I cannot have a man in my service who does not obey orders. This time it turned out well, but next time disobedience might spell ruin.”

One of our poets tells the story of a man whom God sent to a river head for a draught of water. But when the man got there he saw that the water was muddy. He also saw lying by the riverside a beautiful marble cup. And he said to himself, “What can God want with a draught of muddy water? All the rivers on the earth are His. I will take Him this beautiful cup instead. It is a much finer gift” But God had asked for the draught of water, not for the marble cup, and the man's gift was valueless.

If you are told to do a thing and do something else instead, no amount of fine or generous things you may do will make up for the omission of the thing you ought to have done. Supposing your mother sends you to buy bread for tea or meat for dinner, and on your way you pass a wood where some beautiful wild flowers grow. You think it would be so nice to bring her a bunch of those, so you stop and fill your basket with them and forget all about your message. Do you think any amount of fine flowers will make up to her for the dinner you didn't bring her?

Don't be ashamed to obey, boys and girls. Be one of those whom others can trust to carry out an order exactly. Such people are scarce in the world much scarcer than you might think and when we find one of them we prize him highly.

2. And then I think this story of the unfaithful soldier teaches us that the duty that lies nearest us is the lest for us to do. If this man had stuck to his post, if he hadn't busied himself about a lot of things he wasn't asked to do, the prisoner would never have got away.

There are a lot of people like that. They are so busy dreaming about the fine things they will do later that they miss the opportunity of doing the little, humble, necessary services that lie close at hand.

“Today,” said pretty Dolly, as

She opened wide her eyes,

“I'm going to give my dear mamma

A beautiful surprise.

I hardly know what it will be,

But I will find a way

To do some great and noble thing

To please mamma today.

“I'm tired of doing little things,

Why, any one can sweep

And dust, or wipe the dishes up,

Or watch the baby sleep.

It's some big thing I want to do.

If I could write a book,

Or save the house from burning, now

How pleased mamma would look I”

So after breakfast Dolly went

And sat beside the fire,

While mother cleared the things away,

And mended baby's tire;

She wiped the dishes, made the beds,

And braided Bessy's hair,

While Dolly sat and pondered long

Within her easy chair.

And so she dreamed and thought and planned

The busy morning through;

But could not think of anything

Quite big enough to do!

And when she went to bed at night

She really wondered why,

When mother kissed her lovingly,

The kiss was half a sigh!

(G. M. Cannon)

Boys and girls, take your heads out of the clouds. It isn't the doing of the far-away, big things that is the finest work for you, it is the doing well of the little things that lie nearest you. If you neglect these little things, however commonplace they may seem, then you have failed in your duty, and no amount of grand deeds will ever take their place.

If you are not helpful and dutiful and loving to your father and mother, kind and courteous to your brothers and sisters, faithful in your work, then none of the fine, brave things you imagine you are going to do in the world will ever make up. God gives most of us just very commonplace tasks, but He expects us to do them well. We must see to it that we do thoroughly the little bit of work He puts before us, and some day perhaps He will call us to something bigger.

Just one thing more. The man in the story was too busy to do the thing that mattered most. And there are still some foolish people who are too busy to do the thing that matters most of all to make room in their lives for God.

Boys and girls, don't make that mistake. It is the biggest one you could possibly make. Let God into your hearts now, while they are young and free and generous, and before other interests come in to crowd Him out. He is worthy of your heart's adoration, of your life's service, but He will never force Himself in. Will you open the door of your heart and give Him an entrance? It will never be easier for you to do it than now, and you will never regret it.