Hi, my name is Rick Bloodworth. This is the Common Sense Christian channel and today we're going to be talking about Benjamin Franklin and small things. One of the things I really liked about Benjamin Franklin was his attention to detail and also his appreciation that that sometimes very large accomplishments began with very small and humble beginnings. He was the guy that said a penny saved is a penny earned, and he was always talking about the importance of thrift, things that people really don't give a lot of attention to nowadays, but if they would, they might find that by taking care of a penny now, they being penny wise can keep you from being pound foolish or just getting to the point where you're, you're comfortable with wasting not just small things, but large things in the end. Well, one of the best examples that he had talking about small things was a poem he put in poor Richard's almanac. And this poem was not original to him at all. As a matter of fact, as, as far as we can tell, it goes way back to the 13th century. But the, the form that he put of this poem went something like this. For the want of a nail. A shoe was lost, and for the want of a shoe a horse was lost, and for the want of a horse a rider fell, and for the want of a rider a battle was lost, and for the want of a battle a kingdom was lost. all for the want of a nail. Well, that's a, that's a pretty short little poem or, or a little proverb, but it, it packs a really big lesson. We can all understand back during the days when horses were so important, it was very critical that they make sure that their hooves were taken care of. And especially When we're talking about the horseshoes, and if we're talking about the horseshoes of a horse that's about to ride into battle, it becomes all the more important. And to think that just because they were missing a nail for a shoe, it ended up eventuated in this proverb of losing a kingdom. While that may be a little bit far fetched to some of us, we can see that there have been some very small things that have had very big consequences. Way back in the 80s a little bit after Carolyn and I were married, there was a really big explosion in the, in the NASA program. The, the rocket that was, was heading into space with several astronauts blew up shortly after takeoff. And as they were able to, to go back and, and try and, and do the forensics to try and figure out what it was that caused this explosion, they finally settled on a little O ring. Here is this multi million dollar rocket in a multi billion dollar program, the space program, and yet probably an o ring that wouldn't have cost more than a few dollars failed, and as a result of that it cost several people their lives. It was a big tragedy. I, I think a lot of people can, can go back and remember that time. I remember my wife was watching this shuttle take off. and saw the explosion. She called me when I was at work to tell me what had happened. It was a big deal at the time. It made a big impression on a lot of people. Small things can really make a big difference, but they can also make a really big difference for good. And so, I want to go back to a couple of parables that you're very familiar with. Not well, not parables, but a couple of examples that occurred during Jesus's ministry and they involve the feeding of a lot of people with just a few loaves and a few fish. In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus had been teaching in a remote place and the disciples came to Jesus and said, You're going to have to send these people home. They're, they're going to faint from hunger on their way back if you don't send them now. And so in verse 16 of Matthew 14, Jesus replied, They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat. We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish, they answered. Bring them here to me. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven. He gave thanks and broke the loaves. When he had given them to the disciples, the disciples gave them to the people. They ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, plus the women and children. And then in Matthew chapter 15, we have an almost identical experience where Jesus has been teaching to people who are now about to get hungry and need to be fed. And so in Matthew chapter 15 starting in, in verse 32, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion on these people. They've already been with me Three days and have had nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry or they may collapse on the, on the way. His disciples answered, where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd? How many loaves do you have? Jesus asked. Seven and a few small fish. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them, gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who had ate was four thousand plus. women and children. So here we have almost two identical situations and they weren't very far apart as far as time. And they essentially involved the same thing. There are people who had a need that needed to be met. And while the disciples of Christ looked at it and thought, well, we can't, we can't meet this need. They need to take care of themselves. Jesus in both situations determined that they needed to be taken care of. And so when the disciples were confronted with this request by Jesus, they just pointed out, we don't have enough. In one instance, they just had seven loaves and two smi two small, or two fish. And in another instance, they just had a few loaves of bread and, and, and two small fish and, and so, or a few small fish. And so it didn't seem like enough. It was too small of a thing to feed thousands of people. But there's a principle here that we all, I think, could benefit from if we would just learn it. And that is this. If you will use what you have in God's service, no matter how small it may seem to you, but if you will use everything that you have, then God will fill in the gap. to take care of what's needed. We see that we see the miraculous times where Jesus fed thousands of people with just a little bread and a few fish, but, but it can occur in our lives as well. As a matter of fact, think about some of the small things that have occurred to you in your life that they just seemed so, so minute and so insignificant and maybe even so random that they really couldn't amount to anything. But they ended up amounting to a lot. I, I know when I was at, at Lubbock Christian College, they had a rule that you had to go to chapel services every morning. It was a religious service where we would have songs to, to God and to Christ and, and prayer, and usually a short devotional me message. And the idea was to try and keep the perspective of the students on campus in the direction it really needed to be. The studies were certainly significant, but not so significant as the religious direction that they were trying to provide there. And so they required these chapel services because there were some people like me who didn't particularly want to go. And if we weren't compelled to go, we wouldn't. And so they had a rule. You couldn't miss more than 10 chapel services. And if you did on the 11th time you missed, you got fined pretty good. And on the 12th time you got fined again. And if you missed 13 times in one semester you might be dismissed from school. Well, My junior year, I, I was probably not the best student and probably not the best attendee of chapel. And so I got to the point where I, I had my 10 absences and even exceeded it and it paid a fine or two. And then I had to go to chapel sick after that because I couldn't afford to miss anymore. So by the time my senior year rolled around, I was a little bit more expeditious with my chapel absences. So one day. I showed up for chapel. On this particular day, there was a beautiful young woman who had missed a lot of chapel herself, but her situation was entirely different. She was working to make some money, and so her absences were excused. She had a work exemption, and so she didn't make it to chapel a lot. Just maybe a day or two a week was all she could make it. But, but one day After chapel, that I had actually attended, and that this young beautiful woman had also attended, we met on the chapel steps. Now we knew of each other, it was a small campus, we had seen each other around, had probably even spoken to each other, but on that day, for whatever reason, we, we saw each other on the chapel steps and we started engaging in a conversation. And, and we both became very interested in the other person, and from there a relationship very quickly developed. And I'm not sure that I should tell this, because there's a lot of people who would like their kids to take a little bit more time, but within three and a half weeks of meeting and talking on the chapel steps, we were unofficially engaged. And now we've been married for 42 years. That seemingly insignificant incident, my actually going to chapel one day, her actually being on campus to go to chapel, resulted in our meeting and establishing a lifelong relationship. Don't despise small things and don't despise small beginnings. It's amazing what God can do with them. There's another situation of a man who was, who was just, he was an alcoholic. He, he was drunk. He was married and he had three boys, but he wasn't much of a husband and he wasn't much of a father. Because he just had such a difficulty with, with alcoholic beverages. Well, they moved around, as alcoholics often do, and they ended up in a new neighborhood, and they ended up moving next door to a man and a woman, and the man looked at that situation, And he had compassion on these people, on this family, and upon this man, and he told his wife, I'm going to try and get a Bible study with this man. Well, I don't know what his wife thought about that, but, but anyway, the man and, and this alcoholic started visiting. And after a while, the, the man was able to, to encourage him towards a Bible study. Now, usually when we do this, it doesn't pan out, does it? You probably ask a hundred people to, to come with you to a worship service and maybe one of those hundred people might come. The other ninety nine wouldn't. You might ask a hundred people for a Bible study and the same, same result, maybe just one at most would, would take you up on it. And so sometimes because we see these results as being so small, we despise these results and so we don't put any effort in at all. But in this particular situation, this man's small effort ended up in a situation where the alcoholic's heart was touched. As a matter of fact, he was cut to the core, and he was determined he was going to do something about it. He became a Christian. And he changed his life. He stopped drinking. I remember talking to one of his sons years later, and he was talking about that situation. And he said, used to, when his, his father would come home, he'd hide. He was so afraid of what he might do. He said he never beat him, but, but being drunk, it was just a really scary thing for a small child to, to have to deal with. And, and since he didn't know what his daddy might do, he, he would hide from him. Well, he went from hiding from his daddy to going and attending the worship service with his mama and his daddy and his brothers. He grew up and became a gospel preacher. Another one of his brothers grew up and became a gospel preacher. And another one of his brothers was, was just went into a different field, but. But he would preach from time to time. And all three of them had opportunities to, to become very good evangelists, very good personal workers. And I have no idea how many hundreds or even thousands of studies that these men had through the years that resulted in people coming to Christ and giving their lives to the Lord. in accepting the gospel's call and then giving their life over to following Christ. And all this happened, all these, all these thousands of incidents and who knows how many families were changed because of this. So it may be thousands upon thousands now of people who are positively affected because this man took compassion on another man and did the small act of asking him if he wouldn't be interested in learning more about Jesus. And even though most people would have said no, this man said yes, and it changed his entire family tree. One of the sweetest families you'd ever meet there. I have no idea how many grandsons and granddaughters. Came about as a result of, of this, who are raised for Christ. And I have no idea how many great grandsons and great granddaughters there are now, but I know there's a lot. And I know it's a godly family. They're not perfect, but what a difference just one small act of kindness can do. And so here's the point when we talk about small things. From a negative standpoint, from a consequential standpoint, just failing to do one small thing can, can eventuate in something really big. Remember, for the want of a nail, A kingdom was lost. Well, maybe this specific thing has not actually happened, but there have been things that have been very similar to that. An O ring that was defective, a part of the engine that you're driving having going out, even if it was very small, having, having a little part of your brakes not function in, in your car, not stopping when it needs to. taking that first drink and eventually becoming an alcoholic, taking that first dose of drugs and becoming an addict, making one wrong decision and then just compounding it with wrong decision after wrong decision after wrong decision and eventually ruining not only your life but also the lives of many around you. Small things can make a big difference in a very negative way but small things can make a huge difference in a positive way. a man talking to another man about Christ, and now thousands, very likely, be, being Christians this very day as a result of this one small act. And I'm sure to that man and to that man's wife, when he said, I'm going to try and get a study with them, it probably seemed like a small thing, maybe too small of a thing, maybe, maybe kind of a last shot desperation to try and rescue a family that probably wouldn't work, but we'll try it anyway. Just like way back 2, 000 years ago, when the disciples came up with just a few loaves of bread and a few small fish, and then taking what small things they had and combining it with the power of God, great things happened. Thousands of people were fed. Do you despise small things? Are you unwilling to do the little things daily that, that, that success requires? Are you sometimes willing to give yourself a pass when you make small intentional errors in your life? not thinking for a moment that those small intentional errors may lead to bigger errors that eventually ruin you. We need to pay attention to detail and we need to appreciate small things, both as far as being aware of what a small bad thing could do, but also being very aware of what God can do with your small part. You see, if you and I will do the little that we are capable of doing, God can fill in the rest, and God will do his part. The question is, will we do our small part, or will we despise that, turn our nose up at it, think it won't do any good anyway so I won't even try, and just let it go. God can do great things with small things if you'll let him, but Satan can do a lot with small things if you're not careful. What are you doing with the small things in your life? And as far as your service to God, are you willing to do your small part in order that God may begin to do His great part? Don't despise small things. Pay attention to detail. You'll be glad you did. That's the lesson for today. I really appreciate your listening today. If this helps share it with somebody that you think it might also help. If you liked it, then, then hit that like button. It'll help the videos get out to more people. But until next time, I do want to pray and, encourage you to do the right thing. And I do pray that God will richly bless your efforts. as you attempt to do your small part in order that God may do great things through it. God bless you. We'll see you next time.