Big Mistakes That People Make

INTRO.- ILL.- A newspaper in Kansas, trying to correct a mistake that had occurred in a previous issue, carried the following item: “We wish to apologize for an error in the wedding story in last week’s paper. Due to a typesetter’s mistake we said, ‘THE ROSES WERE PUNK.’ What we intended to say, ‘THE NOSES WERE PINK.’” They tried to correct an error and only made it worse!

ILL.- When the janitor of the First Security Bank, Boise, Idaho, accidentally put a box of 8,000 checks worth $840,000 on a trash table, a nightmare occurred.

The operator of the paper shredder dumped all the contents into his machine, cutting them into quarter-inch shreds and dumping them into a garbage can outside the bank. The bank supervisor said, “I want to cry!” (I’ll bet he wanted to do more than that!)

Most of the checks had been cashed at the bank and were waiting shipment to a clearing house. Their loss would result in a bookkeeping nightmare because most of them were still unrecorded. The bankers could not know who paid what to whom.

THE SOLUTION: Reclaim the shredded pieces and reconstruct each check! COULD YOU IMAGINE?! So fifty employees worked in two shifts for six hours a day, inside 6 rooms, shifting, plucking, matching, and pasting checks back together.

Don’t you wonder what happened to that janitor and the person who did the paper-shredding?

Big mistakes that people make. And all of us make mistakes in life.

Rom. 3:23 “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

One preacher paraphrases that verse this way: We all fail in some form or another. Or it could be: We all make mistakes and some make bigger ones than others.

Can you remember the dumbest mistake you ever made? You probably can but I suspect you don’t want to talk about it.

ILL.- It’s like the fellow who spit out the window of his car, only to discover that his window was rolled up. The only thing that might have made it worse was if he had spit tobacco.

That’s a dumb mistake all right. Of course, if that was the worse mistake any person ever made, it wouldn’t be that bad. I’d take that one any day over some of the dumb things I’ve done.

Brethren, we might admit to a few minor mistakes, but we certainly don’t like to admit to major ones! Or not extremely embarrassing ones! And certainly not costly ones!

ILL.- For example. A New York newspaper once published an advertisement of a magazine that was just being published. By the error of both the printer and the proofreader, the cost of the year’s subscription was given as ten (10) cents! Can you believe it?

Thirty-thousand readers of the newspaper sent in their dimes for a year’s subscription and the newspaper had to stand good for the mistakes. AND THAT ONE LITTLE MISTAKE COST THEM A BUNCH OF MONEY!

ILL.- An extremely costly mistake was made by General Motors one time in which they had to recall 4.9 million vehicles to check for faulty carburetors and exhaust systems. THE POSTAGE ALONE FOR SENDING THE REGISTERED LETTERS COST THEM MORE THAN FOUR MILLION DOLLARS!

BIG MISTAKES THAT PEOPLE MAKE!

Brethren, one important thing to remember about any mistakes that we make in life is they are generally not fatal. AND THEY CAN BE FORGIVEN IN CHRIST!

PROP.- Our text in Luke 12 (the parable of the rich fool) tells us about some big mistakes that people make in life.

1- In planning for himself, he forgot his neighbor

2- In considering his goods, he forgot the giver

3- In providing for his body, he forgot his soul

I. IN PLANNING FOR HIMSELF, HE FORGOT HIS NEIGHBOR

V. 17 With a good crop coming in, the man said, “What shall I do?” As in, “What shall I do with my money?” “How shall I spend my money on me?” It sounded like he wasn’t thinking about anybody but himself.

ILL.- The beggar was dirty and hungry. As the lady passed by she gave him a quarter. “Tell me,” she said, “How did you get so destitute?” “Well, ma’ am,” the beggar said, “I was just like you one time, always giving vast sums of money to the poor.”

Obviously, that woman wasn’t giving vast sums of money to the poor. Of course, if we give anything to the poor, we are doing something. But I doubt seriously that any of us will ever give away too much money.

Any time we think only about ourselves, our wants, our needs, etc. Or what we want to do and never consider anybody else then we are in trouble! We are in trouble with the Lord, because He wants us to think of others!