Counting What Counts

When the boring jobs make the Kingdom run

Have you ever gotten stuck with a task more mundane than a dirt road?

I can raise my hand here.

During my time volunteering at the local library, I’ve been assigned multiple tedious jobs. One was to sharpen a couple hundred colored pencils, sort them between Prismacolor and Crayola, and then put little sticky labels on the ends. It took me 2 hours to finish.

It wasn’t too boring because I eventually fell into a rhythm and spent most of the time daydreaming. But that caused me to forget to empty the electric pencil sharpener, so the shavings exploded onto the table and I had to clean it all up.

The verse

As I was reading through First Chronicles today, I came across the following verse that was very relatable to my situation:

Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out.

— 1 Chronicles 9:28

The passage is talking about the Levites. They were divided into groups with different responsibilities in God’s temple. This particular group was in charge of the utensil inventory.

I wonder if these Levites were ever jealous of the other Levites. Some Levites got to make sacrifices. Some got to carry the Ark. But these people spent their time counting forks.

Doesn’t sound very exciting.

But as I thought about it, I realized this: without the utensils being cared for and accounted for, the services in the temple couldn’t be properly performed. The boring jobs made the temple run.

The connection

We shouldn’t despise the small tasks God gives us. For me, it’s sharpening pencils at the library, cleaning the toilet at home, and memorizing how to calculate the cross-price elasticity of demand.

For many of you, it might be mowing the lawn, driving the kids to extracurriculars, showing up for work every day, and whatever else needs to be done.

Even in the church, there are some tasks that no one wants to do but need to be done. Some people sing in the choir and others are greeters at the door, but the church still needs someone to mop the floor. Someone needs to show up early to unlock the door. Someone needs to stay late to fold up the chairs.

The boring jobs make the church run. The boring jobs make the house run. The boring jobs make the Kingdom run.

So if that’s your job, then do it with a willing and joyful heart.

Jesus said that he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much. Faithfulness in the small things is what prepares us for greater service.

Your “counting the utensils” may not seem like much, but trust God, it counts.

The Roadside Café 🤍

[ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ, ɪ’ᴍ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ʀᴇᴀʟ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴀᴛ ʀᴇᴘᴇᴛɪᴛɪᴠᴇ, ᴍɪɴᴅʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴛᴀꜱᴋꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜᴏʟᴇ-ᴘᴜɴᴄʜɪɴɢ ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀꜱ, ꜱᴏʀᴛɪɴɢ ʙᴏᴏᴋꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴀʀᴘᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴘᴇɴᴄɪʟꜱ. ᴀɴᴅ ɪ’ᴍ ᴘʀᴇᴛᴛʏ ꜰᴀꜱᴛ ᴀᴛ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏᴏ. ꜱᴏ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜɪʀᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙᴏʀɪɴɢ ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄᴇ ᴊᴏʙꜱ…………………………. 😉]