Nehemiah 3:14
The Dung Gate was repaired by Malkijah son of Recab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem. He rebuilt it and put its doors and bolts and bars in place.
Quite honestly, it doesn’t take much to catch my attention. Holding my attention, though, is another matter. (I love the button that says “I have ADOS: Attention Deficit…Oooh! Shiny!”) Anyway, it can be quite a curse when reading the Bible, especially when I’m trapped in a chapter like Nehemiah 3 which is basically just a summary about who rebuilt what part of the wall. 
It’s long, repetitive, and, if I can say it without getting struck by lightning, somewhat boring. (Whew! Still here.)
But the verse above really caught my attention. I guess somehow seeing the word “dung” in the Bible has that effect on me. Apparantly this guy named Malkijah drew the short straw and got stuck fixing the Dung Gate. It made me wonder how that gate got it’s name. Surely it couldn’t be as obvious as it seemed! Turns out this wasn’t a place where people went to, well, you know, relieve themselves after a morning cup of joe. It wasn’t the local hangout and party place for all the dung beetles in Jerusalem. It was the gate where the trash was taken out of the city. It must have stunk and I would imagine the job might have been a bit unpleasant. And for all of his hard work on the smelliest part of the wall during the rebuilding process, ol’ Mal got THIRTY WORDS of press. That’s it! Other people got multiple verses, but not our “redeemer of the dung door.”
So you’ve got to wonder about Mal. Is he some kind of terrible criminal that is working off his community hours after a drunken week-end of bad choices? A mass murderer? What could he have done that was so bad he’d get stuck with the plunger? Cheer for the Tarheels? Nope. Turns out Mal was royalty. Here’s the son of a ruler cleaning up the dirtiest part of the wall without so much as 2 sentences of recognition for it in the Scriptures. And he did it willingly, which means the obvious question is, “Why?”
I think it’s because he was so committed to the big picture that he refused to get bogged down in the small part he played. That’s good stuff for you and me, because in case you haven’t noticed, life is mostly small stuff with periodic doses of “WOW!!” Like Malkijah, we’ve got to learn this fundamental truth:
FAITHFULNESS TO THE SMALL REQUIRES COMMITMENT TO THE BIG.
Once he was committed to the bigger rebuilding project, it probably didn’t matter what part of the wall he fixed or how much or little recognition he got for his part. We get stuck when we start thinking that the small should be replaced by the big. “If I could win American Idol (big), then I wouldn’t have to work at this stupid job (small).” But the big never replaces the small because the small stuff is the foundation for the big stuff. The same work ethic you take to that stupid job is the same one that’ll carry you (or destroy you) on tour as the next American Idol. How you handle what seems small in your life today is crucial if there is to be anything big in your life tomorrow.
So handle it, and while you do, be thankful you’re not at a Dung Gate.
