A gray blur registered in my peripheral vision, streaking from the couch to end under the dining room table.  Could it be a mouse? In our house? In the four years we have spent living in Thompsonville, not once have we had to deal with a mouse in the house.  If my eyes were not playing tricks, this would be an unusual occurrence to witness. I would sit back and watch to see if this “little thing” would make a move again. Sure enough, after a few moments he darted out again for crumbs under the table and then back to his shelter under the couch. That confirmed it. It was a mouse! Out came the old mouse trap baited with a little peanut butter. It wouldn’t take long now as this trap would solve our problem. I waited patiently to hear the snap of the trap but nothing happened that evening, or the next day or the next.  Maybe the mouse went back outside where he belongs and we won’t have to deal with him again. And that is just what we did. We didn’t really think about him again since he never came out to eat under the table or showed evidence of coming close to the mousetrap. Several days later, to our dismay, we found our “little” friend. He was still living in the house and had found a new home in the pantry. What a mess! He had chewed through anything and everything that he could, leaving his mark on every shelf and creating an absolute mess. How could something that “little” get all over the pantry in such a short amount of time to leave such utter chaos.

As I worked to clean up the mess, I wondered how this “little” critter could make such a mess and cause me so much grief. Then the Lord reminded me of how a “little” sin, if not confessed and repented of, can produce a mess in our lives. Sometimes we look upon some sins as only “little”, reasoning with our conscience that it’s not that important. Some who give in to their own inclinations, desires and wishes actually conclude that sin is not so offensive or terrible to God. But we need to give attention to the little things in life, for this is the secret of success. To Eve, back at the genesis, it was a small thing to disobey God by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree and tempting her husband to join her in disobedience. But by this one “little” sin, Adam and Eve opened upon the world the floodgates of woe. Some of us may look at eating the wrong fruit as a very little thing. But when we look to the consequences of the first couple’s decision, they are anything but small.  Like my pantry, it was just one “little” mouse but the consequences were more than I ever imagined. Lord, help us to see our “little” sins and their consequences in Your true light.
Roi Ewing