Below follows an important reminder from Charles Spurgeon, which Apprising Ministries feels is all but lost in the increasingly worldly American Christianity of postevangelicalism and the emerging church.

In this devotion the Prince of Preachers exhorts us to be willing, faithful and obedient slaves of our glorious and majestic, great and mighty Christ to the very minute details of whatever the Master asks us to do:

And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window. (Joshua 2:21, KJV)

Rahab was told to tie the scarlet thread in the window, and she did it; there was precise obedience. It was not merely a thread, a line, but the scarlet line. She did not substitute a blue, or a green, or a white line. The order was this scarlet line, not another, and she took that particular one. Obedience to God will be very much seen in small matters.

Love always delights to attend to the little things, and thereby makes the little things great. I have heard of a Puritan who was charged with being too precise, but his answer was excellent: “I serve a precise God.” The Lord our God is a jealous God, and He is very jealous of His commands. It appeared a little mistake that Moses made when He struck the rock instead of speaking to it, and yet he could not enter into the promised rest because of his offense.

A small action may involve a great principle, and it is for us to be very cautious and careful, searching out what the Master’s will is, and then never halting or hesitating for any reason whatever, but doing His will as soon as we know it. Christian life should be a mosaic of minute obediences. The soldiers of Christ should be famous for their exact disciplne.

(Charles Spurgeon, At the Master’s Feet, February 9)