FROM THE PULPIT: SMALL CHANGES CAN YIELD BIG DIVIDENDS

The church where I interned in Wisconsin did a study on electrical usage in the church building. One of the things that emerged from the study was that if we replaced the old "exit" signs with new ones with a newer, more efficient lighting system, we would spend $6 a year per exit light, compared to the $55 a year we were spending on the old, inefficient lights. Needless to say, the church quickly changed over! At a savings of $49 a year, it wouldn't take long to recover the costs of the new exit lights. It was a small change, but the benefit was surprisingly large.

Our lives are also full of change. Much of it is outside of us. Yet we ourselves make countless decisions each day, many of which affect the course of our lives. It is a simple thing to decide to change jobs, but what a huge difference that decision makes in your life! On a smaller scale, nutritionists tell us that if we make no other changes, but cut back one soda or one beer a day from our diets, we could lose 12 to 15 pounds a year! Small changes can make a big difference! How much more is this true spiritually? How many of us actually spend time reading our Bibles and praying each day? Although 96 percent of Americans claim to believe in God, only 59 percent read the Bible with any degree of regularity (a small percentage of those read it every day) and even fewer people pray daily. Can you imagine what a tremendous effect on our lives it would have it we simply got into the habit of reading our Bibles and praying each day? What would the effect be in our communities, in our nation, if we all read the Bible and prayed daily? If you read three chapters a day and five on Saturday and or Sunday, you would complete the entire Bible in one year! I cannot say you would lose 12 to 15 pounds, but I'll guarantee your life will change, and for the better.

Similarly, if we spent a few minutes each day in prayer, how much improved would our government, our churches and our families be? I'll bet we spend more than a few minutes each day complaining about our government, churches and families.

Surely you get the idea. What marvelous changes in our lives can result from making a simple change to daily practice of the faith of the Bible.

Small changes can yield big dividends. Why not try it today?