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    “It’s just a little thing!”

    Sound familiar. I’ve heard myself say it.

    Have you ever noticed that our pet sins are little things? The other folks we don’t care much for have big bad sins, but the same ones in us are just “little things.” That’s because we either get consumed with guilt for the “besetting sin” we can’t master, or we learn to rationalize it away. One of the things that make older spiritual Christians so special is that they’re working on the “little things,” they’ve already mastered the “big stuff.” They’re seriously trying to take care of the “little things” in their lives to bring them into conformity to Jesus. They want to leave behind every vestige of their earthbound and sin-stained existence as the Holy Spirit completes his transformation of them into the character of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). The “big stuff” for them is what the rest of us call “little things.”

    Today, however, I’m a lot more in tune with the “little things.” Several days ago, I got “little thing” — a nasty little cold virus that gave me a fever, a cough, and made me feel downright nasty. I bet you already know what happened! You’ve been there, too! This “little thing” made me feel just bad enough that all the unspiritual “little things” in my life came bubbling to the surface. I was too curt with my co-workers. I was embarrassingly loud and obnoxious to the official at the soccer game. I wasn’t patient or attentive with my family.

I made a commitment to pay more attention to the “little things.”

    This little vile critter that took up residence in me has reminded me of a whole bunch of my unspiritual “little things” that I routinely ignore, justify, or don’t deal with. These “little things” are even more harmful and more contagious than any cold or flu virus.

    So as I coughed my way to recovery, I made a commitment to pay more attention to the “little things” I have not yielded to the Lordship of Christ. If you don’t believe un-addressed little things matter, just ask anyone who...
  ...got the email virus Melissa!
 ...had some negative and cynical person move into his or her office!
 ...or had to referee my daughter’s soccer game! Those “little things” get to be pretty big monsters when they’re not dealt with properly!

    Now where’s my Kleenex and pen? I need to blow my nose and write an apology for my behavior toward that ref who blew those calls. Oops! There’s that “little thing” again. It’s not only tacky, it’s just plain wrong. I guess my nose isn’t the only thing I’ve blown today! I think I’d better start paying more attention to the little things so the Lord can help me stay out of more of my big messes.

    What about you?