But are we sure that the calamity to Christ's kingdom would be any less if one of us should fail God in our lowly place any common day?
Stories are told of a child finding a little leak in the dike that shuts off the sea from Holland, and stopping it with his hand till help could come, staying there all the night, holding back the floods with his little hand.

It was but a tiny, trickling stream that he held back; yet if he had not done it, it would soon have become a torrent, and before morning the sea would have swept over the land, submerging fields, homes, and cities.

Between the sea and all this devastation there was but a boy's hand.

Had the child failed, the floods would have rolled in with their remorseless ruin.

We understand how important it was that that boy should be faithful to his duty, since he was the only one God had that night to save Holland.
But do you know that your life may not stand any day, and be all that stands, between some great flood of moral ruin and broad, fair fields of beauty?
Do you know that your failure in your lowly place and duty may not let in a sea of disaster which shall sweep away human hopes and joys and human souls?
The humblest of us dare not fail, for our one life is all God has at the point where we stand.
This truth of personal responsibility is one of tremendous moment.