His name was Fleming, he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from the nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the swampy bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse farm. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.

"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.

"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

"I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of." And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

Sowing and Reaping.

Sir Fleming's good deed for the son of the man who saved his son set in motion a chain of events that would save his son again. That the way it is in God's world. Every good deed, every kind act, every well spoken word ultimately comes back to the one who sets it in motion. We need to recognize that we can have a positive effect on this world. We make it a better place to be for others and for ourselves by reaching out and doing good to others.

The real wonder is that those acts of kindness will come back to you. They will track you down at the most unexpected moment and you will be blessed. Let me encourage you. Be extra nice to someone this week. Do something for someone you don't know. Give someone a sincere compliment, encourage someone who doesn't usually get a kind word, pat someone on the back, make a difference.. You will be glad you did!