Facing the Giant of AddictionSample

The danger of little things 

‘Catch...the little foxes that ruin the vineyards.’ Song of Solomon 2:15 NIV 

On Colorado’s long peak lie the remains of a giant 400-year-old tree. Age, storms, and avalanches couldn’t bring it down. What did? A tiny beetle you could crush under your foot. It ate right through the bark and devoured its heart. Be careful: it’s the little foxes that ruin the vineyards. Little attitudes – but if you practice them often enough, they become fixed attitudes. Little indulgences – but if you give place to them long enough, they desensitize you to sin. Remember when certain things bothered you? Now you don’t give them a second thought. You’re being desensitized! Every alcoholic started by telling himself, ‘I can handle it.’ Every victim of internet pornography (and they’re getting younger every day) started with a look, got hooked on a fantasy, and ended up releasing a tiger that: a) can devour them, and b) will never willingly go back into its cage. Before a moral problem got out of hand in the Corinthian church, Paul hit it on the head. Listen: ‘I also received a report...One of your men is sleeping with his stepmother. And you’re so above it all that it doesn’t even faze you...You pass it off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a “small thing,” but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough...get rid of this “yeast”’ (1 Corinthians 5:1-7MSG). Strong language! Why does God make such a big deal out of this anyway? Because sin hurts us, and anything that hurts one of His children, makes Him angry. 

Prayer Point:

Lord, I know You love me, but help me to recognize the things in my life that offend You. I may think I’m getting away with them, but I’m not, because it stops You from blessing me and using me to the fullest extent. Help me, Lord, because I want to be as fruitful and effective as I can be for You. Amen.