Small Steps to a Colossal Catastrophe

As a pastor, I’ve had the sad experience of trying to help families pick up the pieces after being shattered by sexual immorality. The question that devastated family members always ask is, “How did this happen? How does someone end up in such a moral mess?”

The answer is always the same. It wasn’t one massive running jump from morality to immorality; it was one little step, then another, then another, and so on. Let’s see how Proverbs describes a similar process when the immorality is not about God’s good gift of sex but about God’s good gift of work.

Moral Messes Happen by Not Doing (24:30–31)

Solomon was out walking when he came across a field that caught his attention. Instead of being plowed, sown, and growing crops, “behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down” (24:31). Wherever he looked, the farm was a mess. Thorns and nettles covered the fields, and the borders between them had crumbled. Nothing was there that should have been there, and everything was there that should not have been there.

He knew whose field it was: “I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense” (24:30). It was someone who had the reputation of being lazy and foolish, someone who lacked energy and wisdom. How many lives match this field both in cause and consequences? Doing evil is catastrophic, but so is not doing good.

Lazy = crazy.

How did the field get like that? It used to be so productive, but it’s now so barren. What disaster happened?

Moral Messes Happen by Small Steps (24:32–34)

Solomon decided to do some research on the history of this farmer and his field. “Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction” (24:32). What did he discover? He came to a short and simple finding: “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (24:33–34).

The foolish farmer didn’t decide one day to let everything go to ruin. He didn’t say, “I’m going to take weeks or months off farming.” No, he just wanted a little extra time in bed one day, a little longer afternoon nap, maybe knock off a little earlier than usual. Notice “little . . . little . . . little.” It wasn’t “large, large, large.”

But the littles got longer and larger. They multiplied as the crops diminished. The man’s breaks grew bigger and so did the weeds. Then, at harvest time he realized he had nothing to harvest. Poverty and hunger abruptly appeared. The many minutes of idleness resulted in disaster. Sin bankrupts, destroys, demolishes, wrecks, extinguishes, degenerates, damages, dissolves, wastes, and ends us one baby step at a time.

Small steps sow sudden slaughter.

Changing Our Story with God’s Story

The same spiritual principle that applies to laziness also applies to adultery, idolatry, greed, lies, and so on. Very rarely do we suddenly fall into these sins from a great height in a short time. Usually, we take tiny steps toward dangerous cliffs, but there’s one small step at the end that sends us into midair.

Using a different illustration, the apostle Paul warned that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Gal. 5:9). Let’s seek God’s help to purge out the smallest atom of leaven and to avoid the slightest step toward sin.

Summary: How does someone end up in such a moral mess? Avoid the smallest step toward “small” sin because you may end up in massive misery.

Question: What small steps do you need to review and retrace?

Prayer: Preserver of Your People, help me not to take one small step toward sin, as I have no idea where it will take me or where I may end up.