A Little Bit of Soap
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
1 Corinthians 5:6–8
Even holding on to a “little” sin will prove to be spiritually fatal.
I once read this story about an author’s first pet experience with his children: “At their school carnival, our kids won four free goldfish (lucky us!), so out I went Saturday morning to find an aquarium. The first few I priced ranged from $40 to $70. Then I spotted it—right in the aisle: a discarded 10-gallon display tank, complete with gravel and filter—for a mere five bucks. Sold! Of course, it was nasty dirty, but the savings made the two hours of clean-up a breeze.
“Those four new fish looked great in their new home, at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but three remained. Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up. We called in an expert, a member of our church who has a 30-gallon tank. It didn't take him long to discover the problem: I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect.”
While he had the best intentions with trying to clean out the tank, the author had used a harmful substance that had stuck to the inside of the tank, eventually killing the fish. Sometimes we as Christians can dabble in “harmful substances” such as anger, bitterness, revenge, and other sins that stick to our hearts and will eventually kill our spiritual lives.
Sin is nothing with which to experiment. It is a powerful tool in the devil’s arsenal of spiritually harmful devices. Even holding on to a “little” sin will prove to be spiritually fatal, as seen in today’s verse: “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6).
The Bible tells us that even a little leaven, or sin, can affect the entire spiritual body! What would you consider a little sin? Some unforgiven bitterness? An unhealthy hobby? A secret addiction? While it may seem little to you, God sees it as a spiritual infection that is harmful.
Rather than holding on to that sin, confess it and get rid of it. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can handle sin in your life. No one can! Sin is a powerful weapon of the enemy that is designed to cripple your effectiveness for the Lord.
What “little” sin are you entertaining in your life? What do you see as not a big deal that God’s Word has warned you to keep away from? Remember that even a little leaven can leaven the whole lump. Put away the little sins that are in your life and give your heart wholly to Christ. Only when you are wholly His without sinful distractions can He fill and use you for His glory.
To find out more about Pastor Paul Chappell visit his blog or follow him on twitter.
Daily Bible Reading
Deuteronomy 4-6 • Mark 11:1-18
