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“Little People”

The late Peter Marshall told a story of a seemingly unimportant man called “The Keeper of the Spring.” He wrote of a quiet little man who lived high up in the mountains above a small Austrian village on the eastern side of the Alps. This little man had been employed by the village council many years before to keep the leaves and silt out of the small mountain stream that flowed through their village. The old man was hardly ever seen, but from day to day and year to year, he kept the leaves and fallen branches out of the stream which allowed a clear, clean flow of the beautiful spring water.

As time went on, the small village became a popular attraction. The lovely stream was graced by beautiful swans as they swam by and mill wheels as they turned giving power to the different businesses along the waterway. The spring of water irrigated the farms that lay along its banks and also provided a beautiful view to anyone who looked upon it.

As the years passed, the old council members died out and younger men took their place. Looking over the expenses, they decided that the money paid to the little old man whom no one ever saw could be redirected and spent for something more valuable. Finally they voted to dismiss the services of the man known as the “Keeper of the Spring.”

It was quite a while before anything changed, but as the fall of the year came around, the beautiful stream became clogged and dirty. The water lost its beauty and its attraction to those who once came to look upon it. The mill wheels stopped turning, the swans left for a better place and the people of the village became very sick from drinking the polluted water.

Soon the council decided that they had made a grave error. They voted again to restore the little old man to his task of keeping the spring. It didn’t take very long for the “Keeper” to do his work. The spring cleared up and the graciousness and beauty was once again restored to the little village.

You see, little people are important. Some people may never see their importance, but it is there. It is the little people, like the old “Keeper of the Spring”, who keep things going in the background and in turn make it comfortable and healthy for the others.

When you casually read your Bible, it is obvious that God did the greatest part of His work through the little guys. People like Moses and Gideon were simply “little” people, but God used them to perform mighty works.

Churches are filled with “little people” like Moses and Gideon. They don’t have much. They don’t do a great deal to win the recognition of the crowd. You don’t hear much out of them. They just patiently go from day to day doing what God has given them the ability to do. They are always there to do the “little things” and glorifying God every step of the way. Thank God for the “Little People”!