Little Things

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
 
Remember the old story of the missing nail? It went something like this:
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;
For want of the horse, the rider was lost;
For want of the rider, the battle was lost;
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost—
And all for the want of a nail!
Who could have thought one little horseshoe nail was so important?
Tiny little "O-rings" don't seem like much either, do they? In fact they seem specially insignificant when compared to a jumbo jet! But recently a big, three-engined jet plane, loaded with passengers, took off for Nassau without those little O-rings on the oil seals. They had not gone far out to sea when:
For want of the rings, the oil was lost;
For want of the oil, the engines...
You can follow the progression!
This time, though, there was a happy ending. The pilot was able to restart one engine before they crashed into the Atlantic, and the plane limped back to Miami, landing safely. How carefully they check those insignificant little oil seals now!
When the Lord Jesus was here on earth a rich young ruler once came and asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. He must have been pretty confident that he deserved it for, as to the law ("Do not kill, Do not steal...") he said: "All these have I kept from my youth up!"
He was young, rich, noble and "good." in the eyes of the world, but what did the Lord tell him? "One thing thou lackest!"
It hardly seemed important in the face of all that ostentatious worthiness, but without that one thing a soul would be lost forever.
We don't need to commit great sins; we needn't murder, or steal or lie; we need not even refuse to accept the salvation God offers us through His Son. All that is necessary is to "neglect so great salvation."
We can even say, "Of course I want to be saved. I intend to accept Christ—some day!" This one "little thing," this one little oversight, this one good intention never carried out, will prove to be the one little thing that will cause the whole structure of an apparently blameless life—a kind, honorable, law-abiding life—to crash down at last as we hear the sad words, "I never knew you: depart from Me!"
How dreadful, and how unnecessary! The Lord Jesus has done all that is needed for salvation, and He offers it to us today as a free gift. All we need to do is accept it, now, and make sure of that one thing we have lacked.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23.