PEBBLES AND RIPPLES
CONSIDER HOW little things DO MATTER... oh, so much! And the ripples/effects go on and on! A little melon seed produces a vine that produces several large melons (all from one little seed). Or, how one mosquito from a little bite can cause hysteria and West Nile and death! Little things? Or, as Jesus said, “That little mustard seed of faith can really move a mountain of difficulty.” Remember in the 40's the saying, "A slip of the lip can sink a ship"? On the other side of the coin are the admonitions of Jesus as to our responsibilities with little children. And His comment about giving a "cup of cold water in My Name..." Those seemingly "small" things DO matter. And can be good or bad. Read. James 3:5.
A small pebble tossed into a lake creates ripples in a space many thousand times the size of the actual stone. The "child" in us likes to play such a game ... but for adults ... Caution!
Revealing a secret we should have kept guarded! A hasty judgement is seldom aware of the lives affected by our carelessness. A discovery is made in the scientific field, and no person knows the lives which will be saved or destroyed by such research. A single match, tossed into our dry forest, can destroy many homes.
We cannot be static-stationary human beings, however. We MUST toss some pebbles into the water! We MUST ACT and MAKE DECISIONS. We MUST LIVE, and GROW, and CREATE.
Pebbles can create those ripples only when we throw them away. It is imperative that do not hoard our pebbles or our ideas, or our talents (all God's gifts) ... we must toss them into the lake of human activity.
But, before we "toss" any of our pebbles into the waters of life ... we should do what a little sign I saw in a Fort Collins store said, "Before you spit out those words, better taste them yourself." ...not a bad thought! The principle is a sound one .... 'member Jesus said something like that, "Do unto others as you would, that they should do unto you." And just imagine, most all of this comes from or through simple little words or actions. How easy it would be to make a real difference ... each of us.
Thank You, God, for pebbles AND ripples. Keep us from hoarding goodness and love, and teach us to give away kindness, that our ripples may bring comfort, and smiles, and healing and all kinds of neat things. In Jesus' Name. Amen. -LJS
