What’s it with the small stuff, we ask.
You know what I mean, going slightly over the speed limit, snacking on the grapes before we put them on the scale, or the wink at our coworker when our spouse is at home.
Small stuff. Little things, ones that don’t matter.
Why does God care about that?
Our weekend out with the boys. The girls’ night out once a month. Like they say, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
We all need to let off a little steam, right? Let loose for a bit? Let down our hair and ride the cutting edge of the high life?
If we stumble a bit, we pay the bill and go on. Our slate is cleared, and we go back to our good life.
It doesn’t make us bad people … does it?
Here’s the thing. Small stuff is what we call a “gateway drug.”
It opens the door to bigger infractions, and that’s dangerous ground.
1 Corinthians 11:32 reminds us that we will have a final invoice to pay when we reach life’s end.
“But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”
God works to tug us back into line before the tally of our deeds sinks us into addiction or something worse.
Yes, addiction. Do you think the speedster tearing up the highway started off at 100 mph? Even the tickets he’s received can’t slow him down. That’s addiction, to keep doing something even when the penalties overwhelm us.
God wants to stop the behaviors before they get out of hand. We don’t want to be arrested for stealing, even if we manage to get away with it the first or second time … or destroy our marriage because we let that wink get out of control.
Our stumble might take innocent people down with us.
God’s not picking on you. He wants to help you be the best person you can be.
God is rooting for your success, and he is with you all along the way.
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